TCB Oct. 12, 2016 — Looking for Edward R. Murrow

Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point triad-city-beat.com October 12 – 18, 2016

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Looking for

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R d r a Edw w Murro PAGE 15

Dump Trump Rebirth in High Point Charlotte Hornets’ stand

PAGES 3, 13 and 14 PAGES 12 and 21 PAGE 26

Oct. 12 — 18, 2016

It’s

Week!

KICK OFF PARTY October 14 • 7 pm — Brookstown Inn —

Food | Cocktails | Silent Auction | Music $35 in Advance • $45 at the door

October 15 • 10 am Festival | Parade | Food Truck | Rodeo With…

Branden James Duo Jessica Sutta & Phase Band

Downtown Arts District 2

The audacity of grope

UP FRONT 3 Editor’s Notebook 4 City Life 6 Commentariat 6 The List 7 Barometer 7 Unsolicited Endorsement

by Brian Clarey

NEWS 8 Republicans fight uphill battle for Winston-Salem City Council 10 City introduces police review board to public 12 HPJ: Forward High Point, Ray Gibbs envision rebirth downtown

OPINION 13 Editorial: Get ready to vote 13 Citizen Green: Reality TV politics — a suburban mom’s nightmare 14 It Just Might Work: Cumpulsory voting

COVER 15 Looking for Edward R. Murrow

CULTURE 20 Food: 1703 passes the parental test 21 Barstool: High Point leads state

at Great American Beer Fest 22 Music: A psych-pop pioneer forgees ahead 24 Art: The monster mash

SPORTSBALL 26 A Boston b-ball birthday

22

SHOT IN THE TRIAD

28 Latham Road, Greensboro

ALL SHE WROTE 30 Freaky Friday’s

CROSSWORD 27 Jonesin’ Crossword

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

The actions of the junior senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad, and given considerable comfort to our enemies.

And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn’t create this situation of fear; he merely exploited it — and rather successfully. Cassius was right: ‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.’

— Edward R. Murrow, in the Cover, page 15

1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 • Office: 336-256-9320 BUSINESS PUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR Brian Clarey

ART ART DIRECTOR Jorge Maturino

PUBLISHER EMERITUS Allen Broach

SALES DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING Dick Gray

brian@triad-city-beat.com allen@triad-city-beat.com

jorge@triad-city-beat.com

dick@triad-city-beat.com

EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR Eric Ginsburg

SALES EXECUTIVE Lamar Gibson

SENIOR EDITOR Jordan Green

cheryl@triad-city-beat.com

eric@triad-city-beat.com

CONTRIBUTORS Carolyn de Berry Nicole Crews Stallone Frazier Anthony Harrison Matt Jones

Cover image is a courtesy photo of Edward R. Murrow

lamar@triad-city-beat.com

SALES EXECUTIVE Cheryl Green

jordan@triad-city-beat.com

triad-city-beat.com

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

CONTENTS

I’m no stranger to the kind of talk Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump used back in 2005, when he was apparently trying to bro up with Billy Bush and maybe get introduced to some soap-opera actresses so he could, you know… sexually assault them.

That, I’ve been telling myself, must be the difference.

I’ve heard men boast of sexual conquests, use vulgar terms to describe female attributes, even voice personal sexual aspirations with particular women. I worked on Bourbon Street and in dive bars for 10 years, and around restaurant kitchens for another five.

I’d say I have an unusually high tolerance for what Trump and his talking-point minions are insistently terming “locker-room talk.”

But I’ve never heard anybody talk like Trump except for this one guy I used to work with, and also the porn star Ron Jeremy, aka the “Hedgehog,” who I interviewed in 2007 and was absolutely disgusting.

And yet I felt filthy like never before after reading a transcript of Trump’s taped comments — I still have not been able to bring myself to listen to the audio. I felt… ashamed.

It made me question every interaction I’ve ever had with women, and reminded me of some of the sleazier sort who used to hang around the bar, the ones we’d warn our female friends away from if they got too close.

Because there’s a difference, I think, between telling a sexually-charged story and describing a method of sexual assault that you employ.

And there’s a difference between a One of my greatest fears is group of adolescents in a locker that a wealthy reptile like him room or a bunch might become interested in of drunks in a bar my beautiful daughter. or a batch of frustrated line cooks and a 59-year-old reality-television star, let alone a candidate for president of the United States.

Trump’s observation — that his fame allows him unfettered access to women, every inch of them — revealed to me that one of my greatest fears is that a wealthy reptile like him might become interested in my beautiful daughter, get his hooks into her with wealth and power, fly her down to Florida for a new pair of tits and basically trick her out to reality television and his locker-room buddies.

For me, it’s gone beyond not voting for him. I wouldn’t even hang out in a strip club with him.

EDITORIAL INTERN Naari Honor intern@triad-city-beat.com

TCB IN A FLASH DAILY @ triad-city-beat.com First copy is free, all additional copies are $1.00. ©2016 Beat Media Inc.

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Oct. 12 — 18, 2016

CITY LIFE October 12 – 18 ALL WEEKEND Sweeney Todd @ High Point Theatre (HP) What would October be without the riveting tale of Sweeney Todd and his infamous meat pie recipe? High Point Theatre presents the eerie penny dreadful from Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 16. Be forewarned this play is not for the wee little ones or faint at heart. More information can be found online at highpointtheatre.com. The free haircuts and moustache trims have been postponed at the moment due to a faulty barber chair.

THURSDAY Adolescent suicide panel discussion @ Old Salem Visitor’s Center (W-S), 6:30 p.m.

Suicide can be a tough subject to tackle for anyone alone and Mental Health Association in Forsyth County wants people to know they are not alone. Join the association as they bring a panel of professionals to discuss the subject of suicide and its prevalence in teens and young adults. For more information, contact the Mental Health Association in Forsyth County at 336.768.3880.

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Agents of Change @ UNCG’s Ferguson Auditorium (GSO), 4 p.m.

UNCG, in conjunction with NC A&T and the Greensboro Counter Stories Project, hosts a discussion with film maker Abby Ginzberg, Ed Whitfield, local civil rights activists and historians on the movement around social change on college campuses of the past and present. The event also includes the screening of Ginzberg’s 2016 award-winning documentary Agents of Change. More information can be found on UNCG’s Agents of Change Facebook page.

FRIDAY Zombie apocalypse @ Greensboro Public Library (GSO), 6 p.m.

The Greensboro Public Library opens its doors to the un-dead for a night of ghoulish activities and zombie pampering. So if you need a little help achieving that perfect macabre look or just want to get your monster groove on, the library is waiting for you. More information can be found at greensborolibrary.org. (Unfortunately demon hounds are not allowed at this event; last-year they kept burying all of the skeletons.)

by Naari Honor

SATURDAY

triad-city-beat.com

The Martian @ LeBauer Park (GSO), 7:20 p.m.

What could be more romantic than watching a movie about an astronaut stranded on Mars while lying underneath a night sky full of stars. Then again, being marooned on a strange planet may not be the most romantic thing one has ever heard of, but it makes for an awesome movie. For more information on the showing of The Martian in the park, check out LeBauer Park’s Facebook page.

Old Salem Harvest Day @ Old Salem Historic District (W-S), 9:30 a.m.

Old Salem may have the weekend on lock with its Harvest Day celebration. From cheese making demonstrations and pumpkin fritter samplings to red wine-infused goat cheese and craft beer tastings the festival may prove to be the place to be for the true fall enthusiasts. More information contact info@oldsalem.org or 336.721.7300.

Pride festival @ Trade Street Art District (W-S), 10 a.m.

It’s that time again beautiful people and Winston-Salem is not holding back. This year’s annual Pride celebration includes an epic festival with a parade and food truck rodeo.

So get those show-stopping outfits ready and request some extra time off of work because no-one is sleeping tonight. More information can be found on pridews.org.

Two-year anniversary @ Gibbs Hundred Brewing Co. (GSO), 12 p.m.

Gibbs Brewing is turning two and inviting you to share in the festivities. Of course, the food trucks will be on deck, and for your beer drinking pleasure Gibbs plans on having 12 beers on tap, including a new release and some oldies but goodies. The musical stylings of Analog Crash will be on board for your musical pleasure along with DJ L in Japanese on the ones and twos. More info can be found on Gibbs Facebook page.

SUNDAY

Citywide Mass Voting Meeting @ Bethel AME Church (GSO), 3:30 p.m.

Several Greensboro organizations combine efforts to convey the importance of voting by holding a mass meeting for the entire Greensboro community. The Beloved Community Center, Democracy North Carolina, Black Lives Matter, QPOCC and Ignite NC are just a few co-sponsors of the event. Free non-partisan voter information can be retrieved from the Beloved Community Center.

TUESDAY

Affordable Care Act discussion @ Holy Trinity Church, (GSO), Tuesday, 11:45 a.m.

Join guest speakers Rob Luisana, managing partner of Pilot Benefits, and Tim Rice, former CEO of Cone Health System, as they discuss the Affordable Care Act over lunch with the League of Woman Voters of the Piedmont. More information about the meeting can be found at lwvpt.org/lunch.html.

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Oct. 12 — 18, 2016 Up Front News Opinion

Sober love

Love your column! [“It Just Might Work: Craft soda,” by Brian Clarey, Oct. 5, 2016] (Love root beer too!)

I am always happy when you mention your giving up drinking alcohol!

I suspect you may never know how many lives you may have touched and the courage you may have given others who are now thinking about the toll alcohol may be taking on their lives or the lives of those who love them!

God bless you and your fine paper!

Love to you... hi to Jill [Clarey]!

Betty Ruffin, Greensboro

All She Wrote

Shot in the Triad

Crossword

Sportsball

Culture

Cover Story

The ex-boyfriend speaks

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Why this had to be so cold and detached I cannot fathom [“Fresh Eyes: Victoria’s overdose,” by Charles Wood; Sept. 14, 2016]. I dated Victoria, was madly in love with her, and also used heroin with her. I left Greensboro under awful circumstances of my own creation many years before this happened, and have managed to remain free from heroin for the last few years, but it offers zero recompense to my conscience.

Charlie, you’re an English major.

You had, with this column, a forum to discuss your pain, to tell the Greensboro that reads all about Victoria Lee, and in this forum you decided to pen what amounts to a diatribe about a night I knew little about despite my relationship to the woman in question.

A diatribe about a girl that made her seem a floozy, a junkie. As much as I like you, I have to say I’m profoundly offended by your choice of descriptors and the clinical and austere manner in which you decided commemorate someone who loved you dearly.

Victoria was so much more than her drug of choice. She was a brilliant photographer, skilled in all crafts manual, a visual artist of many mediums. She was genuine, honest, confrontational, intelligent, beautiful and unforgettable.

She was loved universally. Even in the depths of her addiction, she never betrayed or defrauded anyone she loved

to support the habit like I did. I suffered the same addiction, and walked the path that so many heroin addicts do. I stole and I lied and did generally grimy things to keep the sickness away.

Vic never did these things, nor was she aware that I did, until the very end.

Should I have had the opportunity as a writer to memorialize Victoria, I would have couched her tragic and premature passing in terms that let my readers know exactly the caliber of the woman in question.

If I can take anything positive away from this text, it’s a stark warning against the exponentially growing scourge that is opiate abuse and addiction. It’s a peek into a window noir on a tableau I’d never want to witness, much less be a front and central party to, and it’s a clumsily written narrative describing, in the most brutal way possible, what it’s like to find your best friend dead on your couch.

I’m not sure why you felt the need to exonerate yourself of culpability.

If this helped you mourn her, I hope it helped. It certainly didn’t help me, and I am certain that it wasn’t received warmly by her mother, aunt, or other family. I can’t speak for them, obviously, but I am willing to speculate.

I’ll never ever forget Victoria. I named my son after her. This was a clumsy and ham-fisted gesture for sure, but I don’t regret it. I’d do anything to be able to go back and revisit that time, to edit my decisions, to make things right. That isn’t an opportunity that’s likely to avail itself to me in this physical string, but I can wish.

I liked you very much, Charles, and I’d never expect that you’d write something like this about someone so dear.

So it goes, selah, et cetera.

Also: a cheap shot to remind you that there’s a very big difference between “worse” and “worst” and that, as an English major, you should know this.

I miss Victoria immensely. I hope she’s arrived at a peace she so desired and deserved.

Ryan Patrick Cafferty

The 6 most important local races this election

by Eric Ginsburg 1. Michael Garrett vs. Trudy Wade for NC Senate (Guilford) The presidential election, governor’s race and the Deborah Ross/Richard Burr contest go without saying, but there are several key local races this year that are frequently overlooked. Not to say that you shouldn’t pay attention to statewide battles, including for labor commissioner, attorney general and state Supreme Court, but closer to home, the Michael Garrett/Trudy Wade race for state Senate District 27 is vitally important. Garrett, a Democrat, stands a real chance at defeating Republican Sen. Wade, who is known locally for trying to restructure Greensboro City Council, endorsing Donald Trump and supporting HB 2.

2. The Guilford County School Board races Redistricting and newly partisan elections mean hotly contested and pivotal races for Guilford County School Board. Incumbent Democrats face challengers in Districts 2 and 5 as well as at large. Newcomers will take Districts 3, 6 and 7 regardless of who wins, while candidates for Districts 1, 4 and 8 are uncontested. Read more about the candidates on our website or in our upcoming voter guide.

3. Debra Conrad vs. Marilynn Baker for NC House District 74 (Forsyth) Democrat Marilynn Baker, who’s been endorsed by labor, teachers and LGBT groups, emphasizes election reform and expanding Medicare among other issues on her website. Meanwhile incumbent

Republican Debra Conrad “opposes all tax increases,” brags about supporting laws to “restrict illegal aliens,” supported so-called Amendment One and emphasizes her support for charter schools and homeschooling on her website.

4. The Forsyth County Commissioners District B There are three seats available in Forsyth County’s rural District B, and they’re all currently held by Republicans: Richard Linville, Dave Plyler and Gloria Whisenhunt. Democrats Trent Harmon, Selester Steward and Bob Stitcher hope to knock at least one of the incumbents out this time around, but it’s an uphill battle.

5. Guilford County Commission Districts 4 and 6 District 4 sees a rematch between Republican Commissioner Alan Branson and former commissioner Kirk Perkins. Voters unfamiliar with the two men can easily find more info online. In District 6, Democrat Rick Forrester of Greensboro challenges incumbent Republican Hank Henning of High Point in the only other contested race for Guilford County Commission. Find details about that one on our website.

6. The judicial races (Triad wide) There are a whole host of significant judicial races this election year with considerable influence on our criminal justice system. While there isn’t space here to tackle all of them, it’s worth visiting the Guilford or Forsyth counties’ board of elections websites to see who’s running where you live and then researching the candidates.

Expect more from us on some of these contests coming soon.

Recycle this paper.

triad-city-beat.com

Worst Halloween candy?

As Oct. 31 approaches, we thought it might be a good act of public service to let you know which candies everyone hates so that you can avoid bringing it into the office or giving it to your kids’ friends (unless you’re trying to be really passive aggressive, I guess). There appears to be some agreement between our readers and editors, too.

90

70

News

60

40

20

31%

Necco Wafers

15%

Bubblegum

13%

Good & Plenty

10% Other

Crossword

Candy corn

drink, don’t you?

Another thing — traditional candy corn comes in white, orange and yellow. Those other cutesy colored corns are not the same in color or taste. So if all you have to go by are those red-white-pink ones for Valentine’s Day or redwhite-green ones for Christmas, you have not actually had candy corn.

And isn’t it obvious that something must be up with candy corn when other foods are starting to morph themselves into the cute little triangles?

I implore you, this holiday season give candy corn a chance, and let’s protest something we all can agree on like wax lips.

All She Wrote

off brand (aka anything other than Brach’s) and it took months before I could eat another piece again. It was awful I think the confection world took a big hit in the stock market during my sabbatical.

You will find that some off-brands may actually taste like wax and carry little to no flavor. But a true piece of candy corn will not taste like dye, will leave a sweet taste of honey on your lips, and has as much flavor as it does sugariness with every nibble. There’s just enough chew that screams freshness.

Believe Brach’s when they say that there is real honey in their little pieces. Take the time to eat one at a time, savoring each color. Enjoy the chewy sweet softness in your mouth. That is life, honey. Of course it can be too much if you eat 20. So can 20 shots of vodka, but you

Shot in the Triad

by Naari Honor I would love to be able to share some poignant story with you that would explain my addiction to candy corn.

But I honestly don’t remember how or when I came across the candy; I just know that I’ve always enjoyed eating it.

And quite honestly I assumed that most people enjoyed the tri-colored treat as much as I did until I started publicly declaring my love for it. Next thing I know my friends are filling their social media feeds with memes detesting candy corn and creating polls to prove to me that no one likes candy corn except me.

I’m convinced that many of the people who claim to loathe candy corn actually have a bag hidden in their sock drawer right now and I’m here to tell you that it’s okay; you are free now.

All candy corn is not made the same. I tried a knock-

Sportsball

31%

Candy Corn

Culture

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Cover Story

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Eric Ginsburg: Raisins and apples aren’t candy, so they don’t count. Candy corn and Laffy Taffy are great, especially the banana taffy, though I can’t say I hoped for much of either when I trick-or-treated. Almond Joy and Good & Plenty suck too, but this one’s an easy contest for me — Necco Wafers are total doo doo.

New question: Should Donald Trump withdraw from the presidential race?

Vote at triad-city-beat.com.

Opinion

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Jordan Green: I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever encountered Necco Wafers.

I can’t remember what Good & Plenty are like. And I’ve never been big on gum, although I don’t have a visceral reaction to it. I tend to be disappointed by hard candy. I actually love candy corn (guess it’s a polarizing subject), and I kinda like Almond Joy, too.

Readers: It’s a tie! Candy corn, which we expected to top the charts because it’s so widely reviled, tied Necco Wafers with 31 percent each. Bubblegum (15 percent) and Good & Plenty (13 percent) netted about half the number of votes to place second and third. Almond Joy and “Other” were not as popular options, bringing in 10 percent collectively.

Up Front

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Brian Clarey: Candy corn lies at the bottom of the Halloween candy pyramid, underneath a layer of Smarties and Laffy Taffy. True, bubblegum blows, but if you collect enough of it, the sum increases in trade value, as does Good & Plenty, which to the aficionado is a prize piece. Almond Joy’s inclusion on the list testifies to its status as the lowliest among the chocolate bars, with Butterfinger at the top and Snickers somewhere in between. But the worst thing to get in the old Halloween sack has got to be raisins. That should be a crime.

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Oct. 12 — 18, 2016 Up Front News Opinion Cover Story Culture Sportsball Crossword Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

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NEWS

Republicans fight uphill battle for Winston-Salem City Council

by Jordan Green

Only two out of nine seats in this year’s Winston-Salem City Council election are contested. While Democrats have consolidated power on the council over the past 20 years, the distance between the candidates in two partisan races is not as wide as you might think.

While a presidential election, both epic and bizarre in its contours, thunders down the homestretch, Winston-Salem voters may not realize they have another decision at the ballot box that will determine vital issues like police protection, investment in beleaguered parks, property taxes and job growth.

The inclusion of the city council race at the bottom of the ballot came about because of legislation filed in 2011 by Dale Folwell, then a Republican state lawmaker, revising the municipal election schedule from odd years to presidential election years. The realignment imposes additional hurdles on Republican candidates vying for seats on the Democrat-dominated council considering that Democratic turnout peaks on presidential election years and tends to taper off during odd years and midterms. Folwell, who is running for state treasurer this year, said his sole purpose in imposing the new election schedule was to reduce the cost of election administration and increase voter participation. Whether the election schedule puts his fellow Republican candidates at a disadvantage, Folwell said, “was the last thing on my mind.”

Only two out of nine seats are contested this year — the lowest number going back to 1997, when the city had a Republican mayor and two Republican council members — are contested.

The GOP’s standing in city politics has steadily eroded over the last 20 years.

In 2001, Democrat Allen Joines ousted Jack Cavanagh, the Republican mayoral incumbent, by a margin of 56.8 percent. Joines ran unopposed in the next two elections, and improved his spread to 69.2 points in 2013 against a Republican challenger who was caught using a racial slur against an election worker.

The 2001 election also saw Democrat

Dan Besse swipe the Southwest Ward seat from Republican incumbent Steve Whiton. And four years later, Democrat Molly Leight ousted Republican Vernon Robinson, a black Republican who gained national notoriety for installing a statue of the Ten Commandments in front of City Hall in the middle of the night. The 2005 election whittled Republican representation down to the West Ward seat.

Republicans made an unprecedented push in 2013 — one year after the GOP took control of state government and sponsored a successful ballot initiative to ban same-sex marriage that was officially opposed by city council — contesting seven out of nine seats and sustaining double-digit losses. The Republican Party’s best showing was in the Northwest Ward, where Democrat Jeff MacIntosh, the hand-picked successor to Councilwoman Wanda Merschel, defeated Republican Lida Hayes Calvert by 16.8 points.

MacIntosh, a 58-year-old real-estate broker, is the only incumbent with an opponent on the ballot this year.

He faces Eric Henderson, a graduate assistant at Wake Forest University who teaches physics. The other contested race, for the South Ward seat, features Republican Michael Tyler, a 42-yearold restaurant equipment servicer, and Democrat John Larson, 67, who is retiring from his position as vice president of restoration at Old Salem Museums & Gardens. Joanne Allen, a longtime critic of the Winston-Salem political establishment, is challenging Joines for mayor as a write-in candidate, but failed to collect the required number of signatures from registered voters in the city to get on the ballot.

Notwithstanding the dearth of Republican candidates on the ballot for city council, Forsyth County Republican Party Chairman Mark Baker rejected any notion that an anticipated tide of Democratic voters puts his party at a

Jeff Macintosh

Eric Henderson

disadvantage.

“Polls are showing that Mr. Trump has a very good chance of winning this election,” Baker said in an email to Triad City Beat, in contradiction to a raft of recent polls that show Clinton with a slight edge in North Carolina.

“We have never seen the excitement at our headquarters for a candidate like this before,” he continued. “The response we are getting from the public is great. As an example, we can’t keep Trump items stocked at the Dixie Classic Fair.”

The two Republican candidates in contested city council races this year have both made an issue of police and firefighter pay, which members of the current council acknowledged as a problem in late 2015, when a human resources study revealed that the city was losing employees to neighboring municipalities because salaries were not competitive.

“My opponent is technically a newcomer to council, but he’s not a newcomer to politics,” said Henderson, the Republican running for the Northwest Ward seat. “Everyone knows he’s good friends with the woman who served for 16 years before him, and she picked him for the positions. The problems in the city budget are easily corrected. They’re issues of pay, and he’s had three years to correct them.”

Henderson added that he would like to see a “reprioritization process” to ensure that the city is covering basics like police, fire, garbage pickup and infra-

John Larson

Michael Tyler

structure. Only when council ascertains that basic services are being covered should the city take on additional responsibilities, he said.

MacIntosh said what has surprised him the most in his three years in office is how difficult it is to gauge public opinion before moving forward with decisions, but has been pleased by the collegial spirit on city council.

MacIntosh said he’d like to see the city do a better job of marketing itself.

“Mast General Stores — they’re in a lot of communities that we compete against,” he said. “They were so complimentary of us. People who do get a good look at our city are blown away.

We’re affordable, we have low taxes, we have great healthcare — all these things everyone wants.”

The Democratic incumbent said his opponent is a “nice guy,” but comparatively inexperienced. “I applaud him for taking the step — it’s a fair amount of work,” he said. “I don’t want to sound negative: The difference between him and me is the amount of time and energy and experience I have in the community. If he’s not successful, I hope he stays engaged and involved. I don’t think he has a lot of experience in affordable housing and business creation.”

While Robert Clark, who represents the West Ward, is the lone Republican on council, he holds an influential position as chair of the finance committee.

In that role he often finds himself voting differently from his Democratic col-

acted with enough urgency on police and firefighter salaries, traffic signals on Peters Creek Parkway need to be better coordinated, and parks in the South Ward need attention. Larson called the 91.5-acre Hobby Park “an embarrassment.”

“Where I might bump up against other council members,” Larson said, ‘is I might say, ‘A lot of bond money is being spent; I don’t think it’s being spent in South Ward parks. I want to see a master plan for the park. If you go south of [Interstate 40], where do you go for recreation? That’s it.”

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Larson, the Democratic candidate, is a South Carolina native who moved to Winston-Salem in 1976 to work for Old Salem. As the preferred candidate of Molly Leight, the sitting council member, Larson began his campaign last December touting his experience working with city council and talking up his preservationist background at Old Salem. Over the course of a bitterly contested Democratic primary against Carolyn Highsmith, a neighborhood leader with a populist sensibility, Larson has received an education on the wide-ranging constituencies in the ward.

“I’ve been campaigning for 11 months,” he said. “The thing that I’ve learned that I didn’t know before is the depth and diversity of this ward.

The backbone is Peters Creek Parkway.

There are 1,700 businesses. Most of them are four employees or less. It tells you something about where we should put our emphasis. If each of those businesses hired a single employee I’d have a hell of a jobs program.”

In many ways, Larson’s concerns align with those articulated by Tyler.

Both said the current council hasn’t

Up Front

done in yours.”

Tyler grew up in the South Ward and graduated from Parkland High School. He left home to join the Marine Corps, and wound up moving to South Carolina. He got involved in politics there, and received appointment to the position of athletic commissioner, where he successfully lobbied the state to allow mixed martial arts matches. He also hosted a fundraiser for Gov. Nikki Haley with Andrew Card, former White House chief of staff to President George W. Bush, as the special guest. About two and a half years ago, Tyler returned to Winston-Salem to help his father with his business because of his parents’ declining health.

“I noticed the South Ward hasn’t changed a lot since I left 20 years ago,” he said. “I feel there needs to be a lot of improvements. We need to clean the area up and beef up security. To do that we’re going to have to give our police raises.

“We need to clean our playgrounds up,” he added. “We’ve got dilapidated playgrounds that don’t have anything for children to play on.”

triad-city-beat.com

leagues, but said he doesn’t think adding one or two Republicans would dramatically change council’s direction.

“If you take the whole budget, you might find 5 to 10 percent going differently,” Clark said. “Recently, I’ve been the only no vote on a couple things. The city has allocated a million dollars to start a hydroponics greenhouse project.

I voted against that, and I think other Republicans probably would as well.”

Tyler, the Republican candidate running for the South Ward seat, downplayed party affiliation in a recent interview, striking a contrast with the often combative Vernon Robinson, who was the last Republican to hold the seat.

Tyler said he’s gotten to know Councilman James Taylor, the Democrat who represents the adjacent Southeast Ward, and found many areas of potential collaboration.

“I got a sense from speaking with Mr. Taylor that they’d be willing to work with us,” Tyler said. “You already have a friendship, compared to going in blind. It’s kind of you scratch my back, I scratch yours. You help me get things done in my ward, I help you get things

Culture Sportsball Crossword Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

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Oct. 12 — 18, 2016 Up Front News Opinion Cover Story Culture Sportsball Crossword Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

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City introduces new police review board to public

by Eric Ginsburg

At a forum designed to introduce and explain Greensboro’s Police Community Review Board to the public, residents question the effectiveness and authority of the relatively new body as part of a larger struggle for police accountability.

In her opening remarks at a Greensboro Police Community Review Board forum last week, Councilwoman Marikay Abuzuaiter emphasized that the new board’s members are independent of city council and selected by the human relations commission chair. Not long after, Human Relations Director Love Crossling set out to bust several “myths” around the review board — created earlier this year — beginning with the false idea that the board never disagrees with city staff or the police department and isn’t an independent body.

But that’s only part of the truth.

Activists have criticized the city’s review process for complaints about police misconduct, with some arguing for a completely autonomous and independent body. That’s part of the reason the police community review board formed earlier this year, breaking off from the city’s complaint review committee that hears residents’ feedback on a variety of subjects. Given the context, it isn’t surprising to hear Abuzuaiter and Crossling stressing the board’s independence, but their remarks overlooked a few crucial facts.

It’s true that the human relations commission chair, in this case VF Corp. employee Zac Engle, appoints the members of the police community review board. Engle chose from a list of names provided by city council members — about 35 people this time around — and selected four to serve on the board, Human Relations Supervisor Allen Hunt said. The remaining five members were chosen from the human relations commission, themselves appointed to their original post by city council, Hunt confirmed.

In that sense, there is a level of independence in the selection process, but it’s hardly devoid of influence from city council.

And it might not help the “myth” Crossling aimed to bust that board

Greensboro City Manager Jim Westmoreland addresses the crowd while judicial candidate Bill Davis (far right, standing) listens. Foreground center: Councilwoman Sharon Hightower.

member DJ O’Brien, who was nominated by Councilman Justin Outling, is a partner at Brooks Pierce law firm where Outling works. The city occasionally hires the firm for legal work.

None of these facts mean that the new police review board is in the bag for the police department or that it won’t rule in favor of residents who file grievances against the department or its officers. Indeed, if anything, the tone of last week’s community meeting leaned toward a desire for reform and accountability, with board members saying they’ve repeatedly encouraged the police department to address broader issues such as mental health training in addition to the specifics of a given case.

Board member Lindy Perry-Garnette, a human relations commissioner who serves as the CEO of the YWCA Greensboro, drove that point home while hosting a Q&A session later in the event. Speaking from the stage at the Greensboro Historical Museum on Oct. 5, Perry-Garnette said the board has “lots of concerns that there are systemic

issues,” mentioned her belief in social justice and referenced the recent Dejuan Yourse case without naming it as she talked about officers sometimes unnecessarily escalating interactions with the public.

Prompted by a question from activist Irving Allen, O’Brien said the board will look at deeper policy issues such as promotions and use of force, something Allen and others say is necessary. In response to a question from Mark Cummings — who is running for district court judge — about the board’s ability to view police body camera footage in light of a new state law limiting its release, O’Brien also said he would make it known if the city ever stopped doing what it could to put relevant video in the board’s hands.

Ed Cobbler, a former Greensboro police officer and human relations commissioner, chairs the newly impaneled board. Cobbler, a white man, and Vice-Chair Jacquelyn King, a black woman, are the only two holdovers from the former complaint review committee,

ERIC GINSBURG

Hunt said. The other seven members, four of them black, are new.

It’s a diverse group, and not just in terms of race. Tom Phillips is a former city council member; Sallie Hayes-Williams is part of the board of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum; Michael Franklin is an ordained minister; Moussa Issifou works in NC A&T University’s English department; and Leslie Summers played an active role in implementing the city’s new participatory budgeting program.

At the meeting, the board members repeatedly said that they bring different perspectives to the table and certainly don’t always agree. And the board does make independent determinations from the city or police department, sometimes kicking cases back to the police chief for review. From there, cases can bounce up to City Manager Jim Westmoreland if the chief disagrees with the board, Crossling said. Speaking at the meeting, Westmoreland said he takes the board’s determinations very seriously, adding that the public plays

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ed, with Davis commenting during the Q&A that he would also like to see the board consider deeper policy issues.

Speaking from the stage last week, board members did the best to assure attendees that if they didn’t believe they could be effective, they wouldn’t be volunteering their time. But given the abiding mistrust of the police in some quarters of the city, as displayed at a recent council special meeting and at countless forums in recent years, whether residents will grow to trust the board and its members remains to be seen.

triad-city-beat.com

an important role in exposing issues and identifying ways for the city to communicate better.

The smattering of people at the forum last week included state Sen. Gladys Robinson, who rallied people to the cause of Ashley Buchanan, a Bennett College student accused of assaulting and resisting a Greensboro officer in 2013 but who was found not guilty.

Councilman Jamal Fox, Councilwoman Sharon Hightower and Bill Davis — a public defender running for a different district court judge seat — also attend-

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HIGH POINT JOURNAL

Forward High Point, Ray Gibbs envision downtown rebirth

by Jordan Green

Ray Gibbs, who oversaw the reactivation of downtown Greensboro from 1999 to 2007, is settling in as the executive director of the new development organization Forward High Point.

The office of Forward High Point on the sixth floor of the Radio Building has a comfortable and uncluttered feel, with an ample but not ostentatious executive desk and clean conference table.

The new nonprofit’s executive director, Ray Gibbs, has been on the job since just after Labor Day and remains the start-up’s only employee to date.

“There’s a whole floor of folks above me to support the people who come here twice a year for the furniture market,” Gibbs said, referring to the staff of the High Point Market Authority. “My job is to bring about a downtown for people who live here that operates 365 days a year so we can have restaurants, to eventually have residential housing, to have educational opportunities, just to create that whole urban dynamic.”

The new public-private partnership, which is tasked with transforming downtown High Point into a vibrant urban setting with a functioning ecosystem of residential, employment, educational and entertainment facets, is funded through a $250,000 annual allocation from the city and governed by a 21-member board that includes representatives of the business community, along with the mayor, a member of city council, the city manager and assistant city manager.

The launch of the new organization — similar in structure to Downtown Greensboro Inc. and the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership — constitutes a dramatic turnaround for a city government that effectively dismantled a similar entity, City Project, which was on the verge of executing a revitalization plan only two years ago. In the meantime, a new city manager and new city council took a friendlier approach to urban investment, and the city hired a new assistant city manager, Randy Hemann, who brought ample experience in downtown revitalization from a previous position in Salisbury.

Ray Gibbs

JORDAN GREEN

Gibbs, who earns $92,000 a year plus benefits as Forward High Point’s executive director and lone employee, brings a distinguished resume to the position, having led Downtown Greensboro Inc. in its infancy through eight years that saw the center city transform from a place that closed after 5 p.m. to a more vibrant corridor pulsing with nightclubs, condos, restaurants and retail. Gibbs took the reins of the year-old organization from Ed Wolverton in 1999, and when Gibbs left in 2007, Wolverton was hired back to lead the organization.

Gibbs has an inspirational story to tell anyone who despairs that High Point will ever have a vibrant core or who believes that it is somehow uniquely inured to the downtown rebirth sweeping cities and towns across the state.

“When I started at Downtown Greensboro Inc., after 5 o’clock, there was no one there downtown,” he said.

“We slowly brought in a couple restaurants and a couple shops. We got Triad Stage. We got a little residential [housing]. We slowly ratcheted things up. We got the ballpark. And then we got Center City Park. Now they’ve continued that momentum with the performing arts center. Even after that’s completed, there will still be work to do.”

Gibbs said High Point’s challenge today is almost opposite of what he went up against in Greensboro in 1999, when signature properties like the Kress and Meyers buildings were vacant.

In contrast, the prime real estate in High Point’s central business district is monopolized by furniture showrooms,

which are only open about two weeks out of the year for furniture market.

Property owners can make more money leasing space to exhibit furniture two weeks per year than they can for yearround office, retail and residential uses.

“The property owners have sat back and waited, and what they’re waiting for is a showroom,” Gibbs said. “If the property’s been vacant for two years, my job will be tell that owner: ‘I have a coffee shop. Yeah, it’s not gonna get you as much as a showroom. But now you’re getting nothing.’”

Despite the furniture industry’s dominance in downtown High Point, Gibbs said the challenge of facilitating deals to reactivate the area is relatively simple, compared to successful efforts he’s undertaken to push forward the sale of buildings with multiple heirs, which often get bogged down in personal acrimony.

“If it’s simply ‘How much rent can I get?’ that’s an easy problem to solve,” he said. “We want to make this work for everybody. We want you to make money. You might have a building that’s worth $200,000. Maybe it’s reasonable for you to sell it for $220,000 to build in some profit. But you’re not getting $1 million for it.”

Gibbs said part of his job is to recruit businesses that have a strong potential for success. Over the course of his 35year career in downtown development, he’s taken a kind of curatorial approach to cultivating business owners with ideas that will create memorable experiences.

Reflecting on his experience in Greensboro, he said, “I’m not just looking for a coffeehouse; I want Pete Schroth. With Mack and Mack, I found Robin Davis.

We could have had any hair salon in downtown Greensboro, but we went with Chakras Spa, and we got Sheila Paquette. She has so much energy and drive.”

Gibbs sensed a similar kind of moxie when he recently visited Miro Buzov, who owns and operates Penny Path Café & Crepe Shop.

“He gets it,” Gibbs said. “He said 50 percent of his customers come from

outside of High Point. He’s attracting a lot of students from High Point University. He needs to expand. I want to help him do that.”

Forward High Point’s first order of business is putting together a plan for a “multi-purpose” field — a project that city leaders have described as potentially “catalytic.” Gibbs said the facility will likely accommodate baseball, soccer, football and outdoor concerts.

“A feasibility study has been commissioned,” he said. “We’re looking at what site looks best, how to finance it, how it will be used and what will go around it. I want to see restaurants and office space.”

He said he hopes to have the plan ready for release by early 2017, adding, “The analysis done so far has been very favorable.”

Other ideas are more tenuous, and subject to revision or being scrapped once they’re properly vetted.

“I know they’ve started a makerspace in Greensboro,” Gibbs said. “Why don’t we have a makerspace in High Point?

One thing about High Point is it’s really geared towards the furniture industry.

What I can give them is twice a year I can give them access to 80,000 buyers and exhibitors. That’s an advantage.

Can we not do the same thing with designers?”

If people think that High Point is at a disadvantage compared to other North Carolina cities with vibrant downtowns, Gibbs argues that years of planning took place before any tangible results happened. Downtown Durham didn’t start to take off until the early aughts, even though Downtown Durham Inc. was launched in 1990. Greensboro was relatively late to the game, with Downtown Greensboro Inc. starting in 1999.

“We’ll have some announcements quickly,” Gibbs said. “It’s probably going to take three years for people really notice that we’re here. It takes five years to really notice a difference where you’re not holding their hand to get things to happen. Greensboro, when I left after eight years, I felt development would happen without me being there.”

EDITORIAL

Get ready to vote The lens through which the Triad City Beat editorial department views the upcoming election is not colored by party affiliation or allegiance to individual candidates. It is focused on facts — both the ones we’ve reported and others from trusted news sources. And it will not be fogged by false equivalencies, unsourced scandals or ridiculous sideshows.

Okay, we might take a quick peek at the sideshows.

We’ve based our news coverage on races from top to bottom, executing a weekly triage on the ones we feel matter most to our readers, with emphasis on competitive races and those with unusual angles.

Our opinion coverage, a separate matter entirely, conforms to the issues that matter to us most — in no particular order: economic opportunity and shared prosperity, racial justice and Black Lives Matter, LGBT rights, urban revitalization, affordable housing, education and a few others we follow throughout the year.

We are unapologetically progressive, though we find allies and enemies to our causes in all parties.

Recognizing that ours is but one voice among many, and acknowledging the wide field of political views our readers espouse, we will not be endorsing this year — except in the case of Trump.

Don’t vote for Trump.

But we will be putting out a comprehensive election guide, with facts and quotes from candidates in every race that affects our coverage area of Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point, from the Winston-Salem City Council race all the way up to the US Senate. In this way, we give our readers the information they need to make their own choices. And when we say, for example, Gov. Pat McCrory has refused federal Medicaid funds and stood behind HB 2, while his opponent Attorney General Roy Cooper has promised increases in education spending and to repeal HB 2, the choice for party loyalists from either side is clear.

But with early voting set to begin next week, we urge our readership to join us in the ranks of the unaffiliated voters, those who place principles and people above party ideologies. Because when you’re wearing a jersey, you’ve more or less declared your vote no matter who your party puts up — problematic for many of our readers this year, particularly on the presidential ticket.

And as more of us declare our independence, our politicians will be forced to do the same.

CITIZEN GREEN

Reality TV politics — a suburban mom’s nightmare Sunday night’s debate marked the completion of the entertainment-political-industrial complex’s takeover of the American electoral process with the two presidential candidates competing to eliminate each other in a tawdry reality show.

by Jordan Green The Republican nominee, confronted by debate co-moderator Anderson Cooper about his 2005 “hot mic” comment about “grabbing” women “by the pussy,” denied that what occurred was sexual assault, and then rapidly changed the subject to ISIS “chopping off heads” and “drowning people in steel cages.” Under Cooper’s admirable cross-examination, Donald Trump did eventually deny the acts of kissing and groping women without consent that he had bragged about, but only after initially dodging the question, responding, “I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do. I said things that frankly — you hear these things; they’re said.

And I was embarrassed by it.” And his denial was couched as a digression, as in, “And I will tell you — no, I have not — and I will tell you that I’m going to make our country safe. We’re going to have borders in our country, which we don’t have now; people are pouring into our country.”

As apologies go, both the video released on Twitter on Oct. 8 and the candidate’s statement at the debate in St. Louis on Sunday were about as perfunctory as they come.

He conveyed no contrition and demonstrated no self-reflection. He didn’t acknowledge how hurtful or repugnant his words were. Instead, he turned up the attack by resurrecting charges of sexual abuse by Bill Clinton and repeatedly changing the subject to Hillary Clinton’s supposed failings on ISIS and immigration during the debate.

It’s a risky strategy for a candidate who desperately needs the votes of politically unaffiliated, suburban women to win this election, but probably the only one possible for a man devoid of humility. Arranging a press conference with four women allegedly wronged by the Clintons before the debate on Sunday, Trump leveled the playing field — and any remaining sense of decorum in the race. The press conference ended with the spectacle of Trump sitting mute while reporters asked if he touched women without their consent, prompting Paula Jones, who settled a sexual harassment lawsuit with the ex-president for $850,000, to angrily riposte: “Why don’t you ask Bill Clinton that?”

As a tit-for-tat, it’s a little thin: How do you equate the transgressions of Candidate A with the indiscretions of Candidate B’s husband? Only one of the four women, Kathy Shelton, had a direct grievance with Hillary, as opposed to Bill. Shelton was raped when she was 12 years old, and Clinton represented the man accused of raping her. Also, as the right-wing conspiracy machine would have it, Clinton

laughed at the victim. Trump repeated the spurious charge during the debate on Sunday.

Of course, there’s nothing inappropriate about a lawyer representing a criminal defendant, and in fact the Sixth Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees defendants the right to lawyer. And reporting on the case has established that Clinton didn’t want the case, but was compelled to represent the defendant by a local judge. As to the future presidential candidate’s laughter, anyone who listens to the recording of Clinton discussing the case with a local Arkansas reporter will appreciate that it’s a silly slander: The laughter is prompted by her recollection of quirks in the legal system, not malice towards a 12-year-old rape victim.

This little piece of Arkansas political arcana is unlikely to undermine Clinton’s reputation as a champion of children and families: As First Lady, she’s credited with pushing through the Child Health Insurance Program, for crying out loud.

At this point, the election hinges on the question of who will turn out, and it looks more and more like an exercise in subtraction. Hillary could really use the votes of millennials and African-Americans, who aren’t all that enthusiastic about her, but certainly aren’t going to vote for her opponent.

Trump needs the votes of white, suburban women who probably wouldn’t trust him around their daughters.

Clinton got the job done on Sunday by driving a firm wedge between her opponent and the constituency he so desperately needs to woo.

“What we all saw and heard on Friday was Donald talking about women — what he thinks about women, what he does to women,” Clinton said. “And he has said that the video doesn’t represent who is. But I think it’s clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is. Because we’ve seen this throughout the campaign. We have seen him insult women. We’ve seen him rank women on their appearance, ranking them from one to 10. We’ve seen him embarrass women on TV and on Twitter. We saw him after the first debate spend nearly a week denigrating a former Miss Universe in the harshest, most personal terms. So yes, this is who Donald Trump is.”

Trump seemed to stalk Clinton at Sunday night’s debate.

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OPINION

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Oct. 12 — 18, 2016

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by Jordan Green Every four years when we elect a new president, we end up obsessing over whether this or that segment of the electorate will turn out to vote in higher or lower numbers than before. In a rational system, the outcome of a presidential race would be determined by which candidate is preferred by the majority of citizens, but instead it’s distorted by uneven voter participation.

Thus Hillary Clinton’s ability to prevail largely depends on whether she inspires African Americans and millennials to show up at the polls, while Donald Trump’s narrow path to the White House requires the support of suburban, politically unaffiliated women (looks like he’s blown it). Of course, Trump has activated one group of voters — low-educated, lower-income white men — who typically don’t vote, but has likely lost highly educated, high-earning white men in the process.

I, for one, would prefer that the decision about who leads the free world not depend on whether Clinton inspires the same level of adulation that African Americans conferred on Barack Obama, or on whether millennials can find a candidate on the ballot who fits their idealism and principals like a snug T-shirt.

There’s a solution to this that might seem strange to some, but actually makes a lot of sense: Every citizen should be required to register to vote when they turn 18. They should be compelled to vote in all elections or face a minimal fine — say, $20.

If we took it as a given rather than a question as to whether certain segments of the population were going to show up on Election Day, we wouldn’t have politicians making absurd rule tweaks to game the system in favor of key constituencies, such as Texas’ election law that treats a handgun license as acceptable identification, but not a university ID. We wouldn’t have politicians in North Carolina mandating that transgender people use the bathrooms opposite of their gender identification. Rather than please their conservative base of white Christians who reliably vote, they would

make public policy decision with the understanding that they would have to answer to all of their constituents in the next election. That means that rather than pass laws to suppress the vote of African Americans, Latinos, the elderly, disabled and poor, and college students who tend to favor the other party, Republicans would have to modify their extreme positions to actually compete for everyone’s vote.

The argument against compulsory voting — and for restrictive voting — often comes down to the idea that the electoral franchise is a precious right.

The thinking goes that people who really value the right to vote and who are prepared to make thoughtful decisions will find a way to overcome the barriers, and conversely that people who don’t care enough to jump through the hoops shouldn’t have a say.

But the argument that makes more sense is that voting should be regarded as a duty of citizenship, like paying taxes and serving on juries. How sustainable is a society where important policy decisions are made without the buy-in of 80 percent of the population? That’s roughly the share of people who sit out of many municipal elections.

In previous elections, a couple hundred people in established neighborhoods like West Salem and Washington Park largely determined who won the South Ward seat on Winston-Salem City Council. But most of the voting-age people in the ward live in struggling suburbs or new subdivisions near the Davidson County line. These are families with two working parents who are preoccupied with holding down jobs and paying for daycare, and often find it difficult to keep up with local politics — people identified by city council candidate John Larson as “the new middle class.”

These political invisibles represent the sweat equity and personal investment that is powering the economy and financing local police, fire and utility services. If they don’t participate in the election process, we won’t have a democracy for long.

w o r r u M .

R d r a w d E

by Brian Clarey courtesy photos

triad-city-beat.com

Looking for

The famed journalist Edward R. Murrow spent his first six years in the Greensboro area, but now that we need him there’s not a trace of him to be seen.

I drive to Polecat Creek in the rain, a straight shot south on country highways that leave vast tracts of land accessible only by private roads and unmarked paths through the woods.

Polecat Creek is almost literally a bend in the road — sensible brick ranch houses, modular homes and trailer parks spread thin across the low-grade hills. I have trouble discerning its distinct boundaries out there by Level Cross, near the Guilford-Randolph county line — but I do manage to find the creek itself, shielded by thick pocosin overgrowth as it passes under Highway 62. There is nowhere to pull over to take in this slim body of water, which is unremarkable except for the fact that two of the children who grew up playing on its banks went on to become Americans of some note.

O. Henry — aka William Sydney Porter — was born in a farmhouse not far from here in 1862. His connection to the area was well established by the time Edward R. Murrow came along in 1908 to a simple family of corn farmers in a log cabin that did not survive the years.

There is no memorial to Murrow in Polecat Creek — none that I can find anyway, though I do see a brown roadside sign commemorating NASCAR legend Richard Petty as I approach the county line.

Petty and Porter’s contributions to the culture notwithstanding, I’ve identified with Murrow since I first learned

who he was in a college journalism class.

A Jesuit priest who felt as strongly about the First Amendment as he did the stations of the cross replayed for us some of Murrow’s radio broadcasts from World War II. One in particular I will never forget: his account from a Royal Air Force bomber of the siege of Berlin, broadcast on Dec. 3, 1943.

“The sun was going down and its red glow made rivers of lakes of fire on tops of the clouds,” Murrow said. He described a plane going down in flames as “a great, golden, slow-moving meteor slanting toward the earth,” and said the explosions on the ground were “going down like a fistful of white rice thrown on a piece of black velvet.”

This was broadcast journalism at the dawn of an age, when the principles of print and the elegance of literature fed a new immediacy afforded by the airwaves and the networks that organized them.

I had never heard a radio broadcast like that before.

And when that same journalism professor showed us excerpts from Murrow’s CBS TV show “See It Now,” particularly the episodes that centered on Sen. Joe McCarthy, I was similarly floored.

By 1954, Murrow had moved into the new medium of television, and brought to it a gravitas befitting the covenant between the Federal Communications Commission and the stations given license to broadcast over the public

airwaves.

The FCC still requires all broadcast radio and television stations — in return for custodianship of the airwaves which, by law, belong to the American people — to operate in the “public interest, convenience and necessity.” This section of the pact, going all the way back to the 1927 Radio Act, is what gave birth to broadcast news.

And under this mandate, Murrow used journalism to take down one of the biggest bullies of 20th Century American politics, averting what could have amounted to a fascist takeover of our republic.

That’s the way I see it anyway.

And so I drive out to Polecat Creek in the heat of an election more than 60 years after McCarthy led his charge. Comparisons to Donald Trump, whose rise also came on the politics of paranoia and exclusion, are inevitable. I’m troubled by the national discourse, which has divided the electorate into two feuding camps with little signs of reconciliation no matter who wins the election.

And I long not only for the kind of reporting — factual, relevant, incontrovertible — that Murrow brought against McCarthy, but also the effect his message achieved.

Before the end of the year, McCarthy would be censured by the Senate for his tactics and rhetoric, and he’d finish his last term babbling about “reds” before drinking himself to death in 1957, at age 48.

15

Oct. 12 — 18, 2016

I’m looking for Murrow, and with him the kind of journalism that can take down tyrants and restore a sense of balance within the electorate.

But there’s no trace of him out here among the cornfields, not even a sign, which makes sense, I suppose. Though Greensboro often claims him as a prodigal son, Murrow only lived here until he was 6 years old, before moving across the country to Washington state and then beginning his extraordinary life. His name wasn’t even Edward when he lived here: He was called Egbert until he changed it in college.

And judging by the yard signs, gun shop and rebel flags, Polecat Creek looks an awful lot like Trump territory.

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History lesson

16

In 1950, a few quiet years into his first Senate term, McCarthy roared into the national consciousness with a speech he gave in 1950 that would come to be known as the Wheeling Speech. In it, he told the Republican Women’s Club of Wheeling, W. Va. that he was in possession of a list of dozens, if not hundreds, of communists working in the US State Department.

His accusations launched the Red Scare — a period at the beginning of the Cold War, when communism was expanding in Europe and Asia, and with it a rivalry with the US that would last until the end of the century.

The long shadow of WWII and the Korean War, a strong sense of nationalism and the specter of nuclear armageddon created a climate of paranoia in the country. In 1947, a group of writers and directors known as the Hollywood Ten refused to testify about their association with the Communist Party when called — after damning testimony, it should be mentioned,

by Walt Disney and Ronald Reagan — before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

They became the first names on the Hollywood Blacklist, banned from working in the industry, The “Red Scare” in 1950s America can be traced back to a speech by Sen. Joe McCarthy in Wheeling, W.Va. in 1950, when he claimed to hav that eventually grew to more than 100. campaign that swept the American people into a frenzy. Sen. Joe McCarthy used that paranoia for personal and political gain.

And to be sure, the US and Russia had been And after his inflammatory speech in West Virginia In September of that year, McCarthy and Pearson spying on each other since the 1920s. A State tapped into this national anxiety, McCarthy began to got into a fight at the Sulgrave Club in Washington, Department official named Alger Hiss had been convictchase the dragon. The Tydings Committee was estabDC — McCarthy won the fight, Pearson sued for injuries ed of perjury in an espionage trial in 1948 — since then, lished in 1950 to root out communists, beginning with sustained by a kick in the balls. In an interesting historical hindsight has both exonerated and re-convicted him — McCarthy’s list of 57 names in the State Department. The footnote, the fight was broken up by a young Richard and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg both took rides in the committee found no credence in McCarthy’s charges, but Nixon, who was serving his first Senate term. electric chair at Sing Sing in 1953 after being convicted of he kept up the effort, now including gay men in his hunt, McCarthy won re-election in 1952, solidifying his spying for the Soviets. rationalizing that their secret lifestyles exposed them to power, and was named chair of the Senate Committee on The Korean War, begun in 1950, pitted UN and US blackmail.

Government Operations. He funneled his leverage from forces against a powerful new Soviet axis that included In 1950, syndicated columnist Drew Pearson began a this position into the Senate Permanent Subcommittee China and North Korea; victory seemed uncertain, a blow series of pieces critical of McCarthy and his methods. Mcon Investigations, and escalated his communist witch to the collective national ego after the recent success in Carthy responded with seven speeches about Pearson on hunt. He’d honed his tactics by now: conflation, false World War II. Anti-communist propaganda wended its the Senate floor, insinuating that Pearson himself might accusations, outright lies and intimidation, all broadcast way through the popular culture in movies, comics and rabe a communist and calling for a “patriotic boycott” of the nationally on the new medium of television. And he cut a dio and television scripts, describing the “reds” as godless, column. A dozen newspapers dropped Pearson’s “Washswath through the entertainment industry, the media and violent, sneaky and seductive. ington Merry-Go-Round” column as a result. government, destroying reputations and careers along the In the US, people in general were totally freaked out.

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ve a list of communist spies working for the State Department. Films, television shows and comic books all tapped into the national fear, resulting in what amounted to a propaganda

way.

By the time Murrow got on the story, McCarthy was investigating reports of communist sympathizers within the US Army.

Interlude from the present

Donald Trump is not Joe McCarthy — that is not the point of this analogy. But it’s true that Trump voters see enemies everywhere: immigrants, non-Christians, Black Lives Matter, Muslim terrorists, people who don’t own guns.

A Public Policy Polling survey of North Carolinians in August revealed that 69 percent of Trump voters believe that if he loses, the election will have been stolen, compared to just 16 percent who say they would accept that result. Forty percent of them believed that ACORN,

a community organizing group that was dissolved in 2010, will steal the election for Hillary Clinton. And 41 percent of them believe that the former first lady is in actuality the devil.

That is not a joke. From the report on Aug. 9: “Trump said last week that Hillary Clinton is the devil, and 41% of Trump voters say they think she is indeed the devil to 42% who disagree with that sentiment and 17% who aren’t sure one way or the other.”

Some Trump voters blame President Obama for 9/11 even though it happened seven years before he took office, and believe that he’s our first Muslim president and that he was born in Kenya. Last week, the Washington Post profiled Melanie Austin, a Trump supporter in Pennsylvania who believes Obama is gay, his wife is a trans-woman and his kids are adopted, and possibly kidnapped.

The point is that the truth is not getting through, and that the media — charged with operating in the public interest — has failed.

And maybe success is not possible.

Each one of us has access to more information than ever before in the history of humanity. It comes at us from thousands of directions, and each of us is responsible for weighting and curating our own streams. No one outlet has the reach Murrow had when he brought McCarthy’s activities to light, no single franchise can capture the public trust in the way Murrow and the crew at CBS News did in the first half of the American Century. There’s no such thing as a truth bomb, one that would instantly disseminate the facts and dispel the fiction, because a third of the people won’t want to believe it and will find sources to back up their false beliefs.

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Oct. 12 — 18, 2016 Cover Story

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Showdown

In 1951, Murrow adapted his CBS radio show “Hear It Now” for television, bringing with him his catchphrase, “Good night, and good luck.”

“See It Now” aired in prime time, the first coast-to-coast live broadcast that dropped in on reporters stationed around the country for newsreel pieces and updates, a style mimicked in later shows like “60 Minutes.”

Three years in it had tackled issues such as the Korean War and the 1952 presidential election and had nibbled around the edges of Cold War culture with pieces on an Air Force lieutenant who had been labeled a security risk because of his Serbian heritage and an American Legion hall that refused to rent the space to the ACLU because they believed it was a communist organization.

They believed it, Murrow realized, because McCarthy had said it on television during a subcommittee hearing. But it was provably false.

Murrow and his producer, Fred Friendly, convinced the network heads to allow a full episode of “See It Now” focused on the misstatements and inconsistencies coming out of the junior senator from Wisconsin. The network heads, fearful of being swept up in one of McCarthy’s inquisitions, offered half-hearted support: Murrow and Friendly used their own money to buy a full-page ad in the New York Times plugging the telecast, and were not permitted to use the CBS logo.

“A Report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy” aired on March 9, 1954 to prime-time audiences across the country. It began with a head shot of the stoic Murrow himself, inviting McCarthy to rebut anything they reported.

And then Murrow laid out the working thesis of the program, a quote from McCarthy made 17 months earlier, in Milwaukee: “If this fight against communism is made a fight between America’s two great political parties, the American people know that one of these parties will be destroyed, and the republic cannot endure very long as a one-party system.”

Murrow then had McCarthy refute his own statement, captured on a reel-to-reel tape, accusing the Democrats of 20 years of treason.

“The hard fact is,” the senator said, “that those who wear the label Democrat wear it with the stain of a historic betrayal.”

The program documented some of McCarthy’s lies, like the one about the ACLU, and his tactic in Senate hearings to reduce contextual information into yes/no questions, the implicit unfairness of the label “Fifth Amendment Communists,” which McCarthy ascribed to anyone who refused to answer his inquiries. Murrow even threw in a little Shakespeare.

His conclusion deserves to be reprinted in full: “No one familiar with the history of this country can deny that congressional committees are useful. It is necessary to investigate before legislating, but the

line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one, and the junior senator from Wisconsin has stepped over it repeatedly. His primary achievement has been in confusing the public mind, as between the internal and the external threats of communism.

We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men — not

from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular.

“This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy’s methods to keep silent, or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of a republic to abdicate his responsibilities. As a nation we have come into our full inheritance at a tender age. We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.

“The actions of the junior senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies

abroad, and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn’t create this situation of fear; he merely exploited it — and rather successfully. Cassius was right: ‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.’”

Empty jacket

Murrow’s World War II uniform jacket hangs behind a thick pane of glass at the Greensboro Historical Museum, a faded olive coat belted smartly at the waist, a “war correspondent” patch sewn over the left breast. His widow Janet donated it to the city during a visit in 1967, at the dedication of Murrow Boulevard.

There’s a story clip about the dedication in Murrow’s vertical file at the Greensboro Central Library, along with stories about a 1942 appearance at UNCG’s Aycock Auditorium and his honorary degree from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Another clipping recounts a time in 1942 when Murrow, while on the radio reporting on the war, announced he would be donating his fee to the Greensboro Community War Chest and encouraged his listeners to do the same.

Murrow left Guilford County at 6 years old, but he returned often to visit relatives and always felt an affinity for the state.

The last clip in the vertical file came from the Greensboro Daily News a couple weeks after the McCarthy piece aired, an interview with Murrow’s uncle, JE Murrow of Pleasant Garden about his nephew’s exposé.

“Well, I’ll tell you,” he told the news. “I don’t want to be quoted exactly ’cause I can’t use all the adjectives I’d like to. You understand?

“But I’m going to write Ed and quote some Shakespeare,” the farmer continued, “that part in Macbeth where he had Macbeth saying, ‘Lay on, Macduff. And damned be him who first cries, “Hold, enough!”’”

On April 6, 1954, McCarthy’s rebuttal was aired as an episode of “See It Now,” a filmed piece in which he refuted no facts Murrow had put forth, but outlined the dangers of communism, hinted at its presence in all of our institutions and, lastly, accused Murrow himself of colluding with the Russians.

“If Mr. Murrow is giving comfort to our enemies,” McCarthy said, “He ought not to be brought into the homes of millions of Americans by the Columbia Broadcasting System.”

But it did no good — his investigation into the Army was not going well, and had earned him more enemies in Washington, DC. His colleagues in the Senate had begun to distrust his crusade and were already talking about censure.

Murrow addressed McCarthy’s accusations at the tail end of the April 13, 1954 broadcast of “See It Now.” “He proved again that anyone who exposes him,” Murrow told the nation, “anyone who does not share his hysterical disregard for decency and human dignity and the rights guaranteed by the Constitution must be either

End of the road

Murrow Boulevard in Greensboro runs along the

Murrow, a lifelong smoker, died from lung cancer at 57.

eastern side of downtown, a partial loop that describes an express route from Gate City Boulevard to Summit Avenue, where it merges with Fisher Street and unceremoniously feeds into the north end of downtown.

On the way, it passes a post office and the Interactive Resource Center, a day center and service provider for homeless people, as well as banks of affordable housing and a new playground near the Greensboro Farmers Curb Market.

Soon the Downtown Greenway will be coming through, the first major upgrade this stretch has seen since Murrow’s widow came to dedicate the quarter-loop in 1967. It seems unfinished somehow, a fine idea abandoned shortly after execution.

In 1961, Murrow resigned from CBS after more than Murrow’s “See It Now” television show nipped around the edges of McCarthy and the Red Scare, but didn’t directly broach the subject until March 9, 1954 with a broadcast 25 years and took a job with devoted entirely to the junior senator from Wisconsin. the US Information Agency under President John F. Kennedy, under the condition that he would have unprecedented access to the commander in chief.

He reportedly told JFK: “If you want me in on the landings, I’d better be there for the takeoffs.”

But Murrow’s battle with lung cancer had begun. He was too ill to take his journalistic front-row seat for the Bay of Pigs episode and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and was in treatment when the president was assassinated.

He sat out the front end of the Vietnam War, too, and died before the protests began in earnest.

The name survives, I suppose, here on Murrow Boulevard, a city park named for him in Washington, DC and a high school in Brooklyn.

And then there’s the legacy, largely forgotten and needed now more than ever.

There’s a difference between Murrow’s takedown of McCarthy and the saturation of fact-checking happening now, in real time, as the American people once again select a new leader.

What Murrow did actually worked. Or at least I think it did.

Then I think of Polecat Creek, the rebel flag flying above the pre-fab home and the store called “Guns.” I think about how many of my fellow North Carolinians will be voting against fact and reason this election season.

Sometimes I’m not so sure.

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a communist or a fellow traveler.

“I fully expected this treatment,” Murrow concluded.

Earlier that day, Murrow’s teamat CBS had won four Peabody Awards for outstanding work in radio and television. He’d host “See It Now” until its cancellation in 1958; sponsor Alcoa pulled its resources in 1955, and a quiz-show phenomenon had taken over the primetime slots.

In October 1958, Murrow delivered one more blow for truth in American journalism, his “Wires and Lights in a Box” speech before the Radio and Television News Association.

In it, he called out the industry he had helped build for favoring entertainment over information, sponsorship dollars over the public interest.

“One of the basic troubles with radio and television news is that both instruments have grown up as an incompatible combination of show business, advertising and news,” he told the room of broadcast journalists and producers. “Each of the three is a rather bizarre and, at times, demanding profession. And when you get all three under one roof, the dust never settles. The top management of the networks with a few notable exceptions, has been trained in advertising, research, sales or show business. But by the nature of the corporate structure, they also make the final and crucial decisions having to do with news and public affairs. Frequently they have neither the time nor the competence to do this.”

He would never again bring to American network television the kind of work that had become synonymous with his name.

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Oct. 12 — 18, 2016 Up Front News Opinion Cover Story Culture Sportsball Crossword Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

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CULTURE 1703 restaurant puts on more than just a pretty face

by Eric Ginsburg

O

nce a year, twice if I’m lucky, my parents make the trip down from Boston to visit me, and I use it as an excuse to explore new restaurants.

My parents quit the suburbs a few years ago, landing in downtown Boston after a stint in the San Francisco Bay Area, and since then the empty nesters have become bona fide foodies. I need not look up new and interesting restaurants when I trek up to the Northeast; my mom’s already curated a list of options with the help of Eater Boston, filling me in on spots such as SRV, Asian gastropub Banyan and Saloniki Greek.

After a decade of visiting their son in Greensboro, my parents have hit all the fine-dining restaurants in the city, some repeatedly. They remember a dessert at Table 16 or a lunch at Undercurrent, and my dad filled my mom in on his experience at LaRue during a recent work trip when he managed to swing over here. But by now I’ve pretty much run out, and despite their limited time in town, I’ve been squeezing in trips to Winston-Salem.

Last time, we slipped into the Honey Pot without a dinner reservation, and they enjoyed it. This time I knew I wanted to try 1703, based on diners’ feedback and the Instagram feed of chef Curtis Hackaday, but the stakes felt high. Would it meet the expectations of my parents, and their ever-refining palates?

Even at the outset, 1703 has a couple things going for it beyond the reviews and presentation, but the ERIC GINSBURG Chef Curtis Hackaday’s Instagram feed is drool-worthy, but so are his creations in real life, including this grilled adobo quail with Oaxacan chocolate mole sauce. biggest is that the menu changes daily, the kind of roulette that is exciting for adventurous eaters but likely ingredients like that on a menu together. The name of Having stopped at a brewery and a distillery already off-putting for the more conservative set. Knowing the meat, printed in bold above the longer description, on their Southern weekend visit and planning to share that didn’t describe my family, I counted it as a plus.

I realized, masked the complexity and creativity of the a bottle of wine to make the presidential debate more Just a few minutes after our arrival, though, I started entrees. tolerable later that evening, my parents opted to skip to worry. It was Sunday night at prime dinner hour, Tempted to order the wild mushroom faux pho with drinks during dinner. Noting that the alcohol menu and the 50-person capacity restaurant had just one black rice noodles, I landed instead on the marinatconsisted almost entirely of wine, with a few unexcitserver working the floor of about five tables and acting ed and grilled adobo quail with Oaxacan chocolate ing beers and no craft cocktails despite a small curved as the host, too. When she first glanced at the menu, mole sauce.

The Mexican-inspired dish was actually bar in the corner, I followed suit. my mom remarked that it looked a little predictable the cheapest entrée on the menu at $20.03 – all the That didn’t stop us from enjoying our meal, and as for a high-dollar place like this — salmon, duck, filet prices had an extra three cents on them, presumably we left we agreed we’d all rate it as the best we’d had mignon. an eye roll-worthy nod to the restaurant’s name – but that weekend. The meal lived up to its Instagram likeBut I encouraged her to read deeper into the menu’s might’ve been the most delicious I tried. ness, Hackaday’s cooking proved it warrants the hype, liner notes, where the basic names gave way to a more And that’s saying something after sampling my and my foodie parents went home satisfied. detailed list of ingredients. Yes, the $36 filet mignon dad’s pan-seared salmon with a delicious black lentil Their next visit might prove more challenging. with mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus and Borsalad underneath or my mom’s tender, smoked pork delaise sauce didn’t sound very shoulder with braised baby fennel inventive. But the ribeye that Pick of the Week night came with a beet everything Visit 1703 restaurant at 1703 and a curry Kraut maitake mushroom gravy. Each of us felt our Let them drink beer, and lots of it biscuit, Nduja gravy — that’s a Robinhood Road (W-S) or selection bested the rest, which German beer tasting @ Brewer’s Kettle (HP), Thurskind of spreadable pork salume — at 1703restaurant.com. is always a good sign of a restauday, 5 p.m. and wilted greens. And Hackaday rant’s overall strength. My anxiety Whoever said October was for the witches and offered the swordfish with a raw had been allayed. warlocks only evidently didn’t live in North Caroligreen curry, the duck breast with We tried some of the appetizers too, and I particna. Brewer’s Kettle celebrates the onset of fall by sweet & sour mushrooms and the pork belly with apularly enjoyed the pairing of carrot and ginger in my hosting a tasting of brews from one of the greatple ginger-braised cabbage and tomato fig Yuzu Shiso mom’s soup and the fish sauce vinaigrette and furikake est beer-topias of all the lands — Germany. More pesto.

— a dry Japanese seasoning — that added flavor to my information can be found on the Brewer’s Kettle You might find that in Boston — maybe — but only charred shishito peppers starter.

Facebook page. a couple other places around here are willing to put

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taste. and a well-deserved gold for D9 But the other North Carolina Visit Brown Truck Brewery at Brewing’s Dry Hopped Systema awards went to some of the best of Naturae — Scuppernong & Lily 1234 N. Main St. (HP) or visit executed beers around, includexperimental beer. browntruckbrewery.com. ing a silver for Gibb’s Hundred’s And if you’re arguing about Medley of Moods wheat beer, a whether or not Brown Truck debronze for Foothills’ Torch Pilsner, serves the acclaim, I’m willing to a bronze for Lonerider’s Shotgun Betty hefeweizen bet you haven’t visited the brewpub yet.

Sportsball

There’s no other way to put it: Brown Truck Brewery dominated.

Though still in its infancy after opening this spring, High Point’s Brown Truck Brewery just received more accolades than any other

by Eric Ginsburg brewer in this sudsy state at the highly respected Great American Beer Festival in Colorado.

Seventeen North Carolina beers won medals at the festival, and nearly a third of those will be coming back to the Triad, including one each to past winners at Gibb’s Hundred in Greensboro and Foothills in Winston-Salem. But it’s Brown Truck that carried the day, nabbing three medals for its saison, American lager and hops with saison added.

That’s more than any other brewery in the Old North State, trailed by Lynnwood Brewing Concern in Raleigh and Olde Hickory, which each won two beer medals this year. It isn’t just that Brown Truck placed, though — two of its beers won silver, and the American lager took gold, which is a really impressive showing.

Oh, and arguably more important than any of that, Brown Truck won a significant overarching category, being named the 2016 Very Small Brewing Company/ Brewer of the Year.

That’s a BFD. No other North Carolina ranked in those categories such as larger brewpub & large brewpub brewer of the year, which went to the Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co., despite some pretty incredible breweries throughout this state. Considering that North Carolina medaled 18 times at this year’s Great American Beer Festival, and almost 25 percent of those will return to High Point.

Brown Truck’s head brewer Ian Burnett is already well loved locally; he nearly won our recent Brewer of the Year competition, placing second in a close reader poll with massive turnout. But we’re guessing that the bulk of that support comes from High Point, where locals are guzzling down Burnett’s beer. Winston-Salem and Greensboro prefer to ignore the Third City as much as possible — someone joked to me this morning that they’d never heard of High Peezy.

But if you’re into beer at all, the four medals that now belong to this brand new brewery and its brewer are proof enough that High Point is a worthy destination.

It’s true that medals don’t mean everything. Most of the Triad’s breweries didn’t enter the competition, and we could argue about the subjectivity of

21

Oct. 12 — 18, 2016 Up Front News Opinion Cover Story Culture Sportsball Crossword Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

22

CULTURE A psych-pop pioneer forges ahead as new generation picks up the torch

S

by Jordan Green

uch is the cyclical nature of popular music that many of the mid-to-late-’60s pop and psychedelic influences that seeded Tony Steen’s passions are again reaching a stage of fertility.

Growing up in New York in the late ’60s, Tony Steen loved the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the early Who and the psychedelic bands. Later, he was exposed to the Velvet Underground and Big Star — bands that helped shape a classic-sounding psych-pop sensibility that has defined his own music over three and a half decades in New York, Los Angeles and North Carolina.

After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1979, Steen joined a band of some renown called the Cheepskates that helped lead a garage-psych-rock revival in New York City in a cultural space carved out by the punk rebellion against overwrought arena rock. He went through some tough years in the ’90s playing hard rock and grunge that he didn’t really feel. In 1998, he decided to forge his own path as solo artist. Steen’s maternal grandmother, Rosa Low, was a renowned opera singer, and he adopted her last name to create the more approachable performance moniker Tony Low. JORDAN GREEN Tony Steen, who also performs as Around that time, Steen’s first marriage ended and Tony Low. he found himself struggling to hold down a job. He remembers sensing there was nothing left for him in ers, the Winston-Salem band led by Philip Pledger, New York and feeling like a ghost, so at the dawn of who is also a prime mover in the local music scene as the new millennium he relocated to Los Angeles to a promoter and record label principal. At the mention pursue music. He found legions of artists there playing of Thee Oh Sees, a West Coast psych-punk band that the kind of ’60s-flavored power pop that he admired, played at Phuzz Phest 2016 — the annual music festival and who seemed destined to remain buried in obscuPledger curates in Winston-Salem — Steen laughed and rity. With that realization, he resolved to give up the said, “I played Fuzzfest with the Cheepskates in New illusion of fame and make music for his sanity.

York City in 1984!”

Since 2003, Steen has taught Beyond a classic sound that dipiano to children at Peeler Open verges from the more angsty and School for the Performing Arts Tony Low performs at Tate extreme sonic palette of younger in Greensboro, while continuartists, Steen’s recent output is Street Coffee, located at 334 ing to write and record music. also distinguished by an attention Tate St. (GSO), on Saturday Rendezvousing, his most recent to songwriting. That’s partly a at 8 p.m. full-length album in a trifecta function of natural maturation. that began in 2002 with Sleight of Gesturing towards a painting of Hand, distills all of the elements a supernova hanging on the wall at Beans Boro, Steen in his eventful career: smart pop hooks and wry lyrical said it’s a good visual repobservation, baroque flourishes of cello and accordion, resentation of his earlier piercing squibs of distorted electric guitar over acouswork, which he described tic chord progressions. as being “like gas spinning Steen admitted during a recent interview at Beans out of control.” His recent Boro Coffeehouse & Roastery in northwest Greensboro work, he said, more resemthat he doesn’t listen to a lot of new music. bles another painting on “I just like the original stuff,” he said. “It reminds me display that depicts coffee of a time in my life. It doesn’t mean I don’t like new cups arranged in odd constuff. I don’t download music or go out and buy CDs. I figurations — more visual like stuff from my time, my era. I never get tired of it.” and usually with a story North Carolina bands like Estrangers, Echo Courts to tell. and Zack Mexico represent a recent crop of artists who Most of the songs on are in one way or another exploring the varied terrain Rendezvousing are inspired between pop and psychedelic music. in some way by stories Steen acknowledged he’s not familiar with Estrangpassed down from mem-

bers of Steen’s family or experiences of his early years in New York.

“Adonis Fell,” a song that surges from quiet contemplation to epic histrionics, concerns the tragic death of Sal Mineo, the Bronx-born actor who was stabbed to death in Hollywood at the age of 39.

“When he became rich and famous, he bought his family a house in Mamaroneck, which is where my family lived,” Steen recalled. “By the time he died, they’d fallen on hard times, and I think they lived in Harrison, but his mom opened a health food store on Mamaroneck Avenue. After he died, I walked in there, and I remember her eying me warily from her desk.

That’s where the line, ‘Like a sad old bird too sad to leave her nest,’ comes from. Never did I have an inkling I would make a song out of this all these years later.”

Sad and tragic themes hold a particular sway over Steen’s imagination. Another song, “A Different Set of Wings,” is about his mother’s cousin who committed suicide. He said the lyrics are literally a true account of what happened: “She passed her mom in the kitchen one spring day, walked on by, didn’t say a word/ No one called when she walked down the hall, no one heard or saw her fall.”

“Pictures of Your Son” came from a story Steen’s grandmother told him about her maid. A North Carolina transplant and single mother who lived in Harlem, Beulah was beloved by the Low family. Steen learned from his grandmother years later that she was always pestering Beulah to show her photos of her son, and Beulah would always make excuses that she’d misplaced them or they were packed away. Eventually, Beulah ended the inquiries by saying, “Oh, Missus Low, he didn’t turn out so well.”

Steen is adamant that his music is not a hobby; it gives meaning to his life.

“I’m not pursuing it with any illusions that I’m going to be on the cover of Rolling Stone; not that I would want to now,” he said. “Any respect and recognition would be nice, and is appreciated. ’Cause I think my songs are pretty good.”

Pick of the Week Schmoozing with the B-man Symphony No. 9 @ Stevens Center (WS), Saturday, Oct. 16 and Oct. 18 The Winston-Salem Symphony, led

by Music Director Robert Moody, hosts a series of concerts featuring Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9.” The symphony will also play Mason Bates’ “Ode,” a different approach to Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” the final movement of the Ninth Symphony. More information can be found at wssymphony.org.

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23

Tattoo Revival provides a home for wayward art

By Naari Honor

All She Wrote

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24

Among the creatures at Tattoo Revival, this skull.

I

NAARI HONOR

Seventeen different artists contributed to the exhibit.

“One of my favorite pieces has a comic-book like t is not uncommon for a tattoo shop to house art, feel to it,” attendee Ashley Watts said. “They are all but not every shop calls itself an art gallery and creature-based so I do like that. The Trump one is also opens its doors to 17 artists and their monster one of my favorite pieces with the zombie face. I also themed works of art. like the lady. I don’t know what they were going for but Tattoo Revival sits among the plethora of stores it was really light and airy.” that participate in Winston-Salem’s First Friday events.

One artist’s interpretation of a creature bore the From first glance it appears to be just another tattoo face of presidential nominee Donald Trump, or rather shop.

The frames that outlined some of the pieces by artthe figure of Trump with a decaying face and the words “Trumpers” dedicating the portrait to the man that it ists from North Carolina and beyond coordinated with the art — in one portrait, a skull seemed to melt right used to be.

On the other side of the gallery hung the portrait into the wooden frame that held it captive. of a nude woman prominently exposing her body and “I don’t like the way it’s looking at me,” one visitor challenging viewers to look past her sewn lips to take said, staring at the skull. in her beauty.

Looking up at it from a stroller, a little voice asked, “Is that your show work?”

Monsters come in many forms.

The red-haired toddler was fearAs the night lingered on, a diless against the painted creatures verse array of patrons dropped in.

Visit Tattoo Revival at 631 N. There were elders in windbreakon the wall, reaching out of her Trade St. (W-S) or find it on ers and boat shoes, youngsters stroller to touch portraits that Facebook. wearing everything from khakis were way beyond her grasp. to spiked leather coats and people Her father, Tyler Pennington, was a featured artist in the show. displaying extravagant headpieces and uniquely designed shrouds.

Pennington smiled and maneuvered the carriage in the direction of the lurching creature he designed in Living works of art viewing art.

Hugo Pindea, a featured artist and tattooist at Goldvibrant acrylics.

His daughter showed no fear. en Spiral, who created a seemingly harmless looking But not all the pieces entered into the exhibit could scarecrow, surprised many viewers with his take on the creature theme by using muted watercolor paints and be classified as dark or eerie.

NAARI HONOR

liquid acrylics for blood splatters in his artwork.

“It was hard for me to develop that (fear),” Pindea said. “It was more of, ‘How do I develop this foreground to go with this background?’ Or, ‘How do I make this scarecrow look like it did something?’ I don’t think I was happy until I did the blood splatters.”

After a while, artists, employees, tattooists and friends had become hard to distinguish, because everyone who had entered the doors of Tattoo Revival seemed to wear more than one hat.

Shop owner John Slater floated in the crowd engaging guests ensuring visitors were having a good time without taking the spotlight from the artists.

“People ask people who make things: ‘Why do we makes things?’” Slater said. “We always ask, ‘Why don’t you?’”

Pick of the Week Move on over food trucks…

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Culture Sportsball Crossword Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

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Oct. 12 — 18, 2016 Up Front News Opinion Cover Story Culture Sportsball Crossword Shot in the Triad All She Wrote

26

SPORTSBALL

O

f course he wore a Boston Celtics jersey to the Charlotte Hornets

game.

Of course that Masshole, that damn Yankee, had to don his enormous shamrock-green mainsail of memorabilia with

by Anthony Harrison No. 34 commemorating the Truth — Paul Pierce, honestly one of the greatest swingmen in basketball history.

The only acceptable reason for this show of true colors: The occasion marked the offender’s birthday.

I’m talking about TCB’s managing editor, Eric Ginsburg.

Eric let me know about this preseason matchup at the Greensboro Coliseum way back on July 22.

“Celtics v. Hornets in GSO, Oct. 6 (my birthday), $20 for okay seats (aka not the s***ty $10 ones),” he texted me. “You in?”

“This shouldn’t even be a question,” I responded, understood to be an affirmative.

Loyal readers may notice I enjoy capturing opportunities to catch major-league, professional sports whenever I can, but typically I only have the chance to see this level of play when I go out of town. Now, the Charlotte Hornets — North Carolina’s team representing North Carolina’s favorite sport — were coming to my hometown to face off against one of the winningest teams in American athletics. There was no missing this; attendance was compulsory.

I must admit, though, before that game, I knew two Hornets players’ names, point guards Kemba Walker and former New York Knicks meme Jeremy Lin. Even then, I was wrong, because Lin signed with the Brooklyn Nets in the offseason. What I’m saying is I’ve never closely followed the Hornets. It’s a weird shame, because I’m a pretty big basketball fan.

Granted, Eric said he couldn’t do any better.

Yet as the game went on, we noticed the Hornets roster flaunted some fresh talent. They’d added Indiana Pacer center Roy Hibbert, a two-time NBA All-Star. I’d forgotten University of Indiana Hoosiers forward Cody Zeller has never played for a team aside from Carolina. Former UConn Huskie guard Jeremy Lamb recorded a double-double off the bench, scoring 16 points and nabbing 10 rebounds, while University of Wisconsin star forward Frank Kaminsky flashed a solid mid-range jumper.

“I feel like this is the most stacked Hornets team since the ’90s,” Eric said as we kept a running tally of great players appearing on the court.

Indeed, the Hornets posted their best season in 2015’16 since returning to Charlotte — really, their best since the initial Hornets era. Of course, a 48-34 record doesn’t scream “championship threat” to anyone, but they did force the Miami Heat into a seven-game series in the first round of last season’s NBA Playoffs, recording Charlotte’s first postseason wins since 2002.

A Boston B-ball birthday Eight of us filled the first two rows of a little corner in Section 230 of the Greensboro Coliseum, our yapping and hijinks annoying the hell out of a poor usher seated in front of us.

When the Honey Bees — the Hornets’ scantily clad cheerleading squad — stepped onto the court during a TV timeout in the first half to an odd tune I could’ve sworn repeated the phrase “Death Valley Pep Rally,” we squirmed at the sleazy spectacle.

“So if we go to, like, a women’s beach volleyball game, will a bunch of dudes be dancing around and strip during halftime?” our friend Sam asked.

Eric’s Celtics pride attracted even some internal shade.

The Hornets pulled away during the second quarter ERIC GINSBURG The author (bottom, in black), the birthday boy (foreground, as Boston players missed center) and friends enjoy the Celtics/Hornets game. bunnies and veteran guard guys on the court.”

Ramon Sessions turned up “Well, y’all are winning pretty well,” I said. the heat, but the Celtics still made it a game heading “I know, but it just seems like the Celtics always have towards the break. more white guys on the team.”

“Y’all were up 10, now you’re up only 6?” Eric jabbed “That’s because Boston is racist.” at Hornets devotee and friend Camilo.

“Yeah, true,” Eric admitted with a laugh.

“You do realize we’re just now playing our starters,” Boston breached the 100-point mark with five minCamilo shot back. utes remaining, but Charlotte had already checked out.

And the starters ended the half strong. Charlotte led With a final score of 107-92, our Masshole beamed.

51-43 going into the locker room.

But we natives still found the inner strength to be One detail about the local heroes didn’t go over happy for the gloating Yankee. our heads, pertaining to the Hornets’ new baby, the “I’m willing to accept any outcome in this game only Greensboro Swarm. because it’s your birthday,” Sam stated earlier. “This is “Wait — the Swarm’s logo is just the hornet’s ass,” a win-win situation for you. If the Celtics win, you’re our friend Cade pointed out. wearing their jersey.”

Sure enough, you can check it out for yourself: The “And if the Hornets win — cool,” Eric finished the Swarm logo is just the literal bottom half of Charthought. lotte’s signage.

This provided fodder for plenty of unprintable material.

Pick of the Week Sadly, I cannot print good news for the Hornets.

Day of the expanding man Perhaps they took their lead for granted, but their University of Louisville Cardinals @ Wake Forest Unimain problem wound up being the Celtics’ blitz out of versity Demon Deacons (W-S), Saturday, 7 p.m. the locker room. Boston scored 40 points in the third Wake Forest’s men’s soccer team (8-2-2) shook quarter; Charlotte only 19, and they’d made up for lost off the deacon blues over their NCAA tournament time towards the period’s end. loss to Stanford University and remain in the Top 10 With nine minutes left in the game, the Celtics rankings this season. The Cards (9-1-2) look sharp as established a 21-point lead and trotted out the deep their gridiron cousins and should make a match of bench. it. For more info, visit wakeforestsports.com.

“Classic Celtics move,” Eric said. “Throw three white

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1 ___ Tuesdays 2 Down Under gemstone 3 Rush song based on a literary kid 4 Laundry-squeezing device 5 “You Will Be My ___ True Love” (song from “Cold Mountain”) 6 Einstein Bros. purchase 7 “And another thing ...”

8 “Star Trek” phaser setting 9 “Green Acres” theme song prop 10 Takes home the kitty, perhaps?

11 Devoutness 12 “Bonne ___!” (French “Happy New Year”) 13 Meal with Elijah’s cup 18 Early Quaker settler 22 High-voiced Muppet

24 Fine facial hair 25 Jessye Norman, e.g.

26 Marathon’s counterpart 27 Atlanta Hawks’ former arena 28 Daybreak 29 Abound (with) 32 Pacific salmon 33 Home of an NBC comedy block from 1983 to 2015 34 San ___, Italy 35 Positive votes 37 0, in some measures 41 Six feet under, so to speak 42 “Way to go!”

46 It may be changed or carried 47 Brewery head?

48 One of four for Katharine Hepburn 49 Garnish that soaks up the gin 50 “And that’s ___!”

52 Bosporus dweller 53 Like blue humor 55 “Augh! Erase that step!” computer command 56 Subtle attention-getter 58 Krypton, e.g.

59 “How We Do (Party)” singer Rita

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60 Event that may play happy hardcore 61 Jockey who won two Triple Crowns 62 Abbr. on a golf tee sign 63 “Moral ___” (Adult Swim show) 64 1970s space station 65 Tavern overstayer

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1 Three-year-old, e.g.

4 Indiana-Illinois border river 10 Coll. application figures 14 Abbr. in a military address 15 Grand Canal bridge 16 “___ Kleine Nachtmusik” (Mozart piece) 17 Author Grafton, when researching “T is for Tent”?

19 Look after 20 Daily Planet reporter Jimmy 21 Seemingly endless span 22 Lauder of cosmetics 23 “Buffy” spinoff 25 Buffy’s job 26 He plays Iron Man 28 Foot-pound?

30 Actress Acker of 23-Across 31 Go back to the start of an ode?

36 “Yoshi’s Island” platform 38 Not a people person 39 You, in the Bible 40 Put the outsider on the payroll on the Planet of the Apes?

43 “Kill Bill” actress Thurman 44 “Slow and steady” storyteller 45 Explosive compounds, for short 47 Dough 50 Ditch the diversions 51 Cut off from the mainland

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ALL SHE WROTE

Freaky Friday’s

M

e: Do you remember they were the reason why we kept coming back to when I was a kid and Friday’s every week to drink and dance the night away. you forced me to go to They were the default flag-bearers for the scene.” clown camp at UNCG and you Massachusetts-based photographer Rusty Moore, spent the day hanging with who graduated from Greensboro’s Page High in 1977, your painterly friends on Tate says he remembers driving down Tate Street in 1980 Street? That was my first taste and something struck a chord. of wanting to change places Moore, whose work has been shown at the Corcoran

by Nicole Crews with you.

Gallery in the exhibit Salad Days: The DC Punk RevoluMother: Yes. I’ve never seen tion, earned his chops shooting bands at Friday’s and a child so fascinated with band fliers, record stores and other local venues for the zine and for his own deviccounterculture. es. The cream of the early ’80s crop from across the Me: Oddly enough I’m friends with a lot of those country made appearances at Friday’s. Black Flag along countercultural “kids” now. with the Circle Jerks, the Butthole Surfers, the Violent Mother: So I see clown camp paid off.

Femmes, VietNam and REM all darkened the door of If you live long enough, you might be lucky enough the venerable institution. to be a part of a pocket of time that is preserved in Veto, who — pre-desktop publishing — made band a golden amber. For some, it’s a sliver of childhood, posters and buttons as a sideline along with Also for others, a high school halo — but for a group of Aswell, another scenester, says, “I was there most Greensboro teens and twentysomethings that time weekend nights and many weeknights, for better or was roughly between 1979 and 1983 and the place was worse. Another band from Greensboro, Treva Sponcalled Friday’s, and it was all about the music. Well, taine & the Graphics, also popped onto the scene at mostly. The drinking age was still 18 then. the time and began playing Friday’s pretty regularly Marvin Veto, a Greensboro-based art director and and soon built a loyal following. They performed many graphic designer, was part of the scene: “I heard a rucovers too, more in the pop vein, but also developed mor that Tate Street was undergoing a revival. It seems a repertoire of originals. Then there was the hardthere was a band called the Alibis who played regularly at a pizza joint down there called Friday’s. People I worked with kept telling me that this band, this place, this experience were all not to be Saturday 10am – 12pm missed. It turns out they were right. The Alibis were not a sexy band (some may disagree) — but they were hip to the new wave and punk stuff out there, and its connections to the roots of ’60s rock.

They brought it all together with a brilliant repertoire of covers. They found the common thread between the Ramones 1212 Grove Street, Greensboro, NC 27403 and Paul Revere & the Raiders; between 336-609-6168 • glenwoodbooks.com the Clash and the Bobby Fuller Four. So, facebook.com/glenwoodbooks/ I loved them; we all loved them. At first

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er-rocking quasi-punkish Trueheart, who also did originals. It eventually seemed that Treva’s band, the Alibis, and Trueheart were sort of the three ‘house bands’ of Friday’s.

“Treva’s band went through about 10 name changes and ended up as the Graphic. Both Garry Collins and Doug Baker played in Treva’s band at one time or another, and they played in the Alibis too.”

The Greensboro scene flourished in a pre-information era underground way — via obscure ’zines and word of mouth. Aswell’s downtown loft served as home to “happenings,” where live music, booze and other forms of recreational escapism set the bar for house parties, but Friday’s was Ground Zero for the era until it closed in 1983. The scene lives on via Facebook at the Friday’s Reunion page that has more than 300 members, many of whom post regularly.

“People came from Winston-Salem and probably even further away to make the weekend scene there — dress up in their best new-wave gear and pogo the night away,” says Veto, “Everyone there sort of knew they were right in the thick of something rare, wonderful and probably historic.”

Editor’s Note: This column originally ran on Oct. 1, 2014.

WINSTON-SALEM FORSYTH COUNTY

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