TCB Feb. 10, 2020 — Out of the fire by Triad City Beat

FEB 10-FEB 16, 2022 TRIAD-CITY-BEAT.COM

I put my trust in the Lord, and we just started walking away as fast as we could, and I tried not to look back. W-S families stuggle to survive in the midst of the Weaver Fertilizer plant fire. by Chad Nance | pg. 4

UP FRONT | FEB 10 - 16, 2022

Coronavirus in the Triad

(as of Wednesday, Feb. 9 ) Documented COVID-19 diagnoses

NC 2,509,470 (+66,579) Forsyth 88,983 (+2,088) Guilford 108,453 (+2,415) COVID-19 deaths NC 21,482 (+578) Forsyth 719 (+22) Guilford 973 (+0) Documented recoveries NC 2,313,159 (+163,321) Forsyth *no data* Guilford 100,847 (+7,801) Current cases NC 174,829 (-97,320) Forsyth *no data* Guilford 6,632 (-5,386) Hospitalizations (right now) NC 3,812 (-913) Forsyth *no data* Guilford 151 (-77) Vaccinations NC Partially vaccinated 6,303,909 (+15,327) Fully vaccinated 6,345,826 (61%, +21,012 Boosted: 3,025,148 (+44,783, 48% of vaccinated) Forsyth Partially vaccinated 247,584 (+544) Fully vaccinated 231,187 (60%, +859) Boosted: 106,974 (+0, 46% of vaccinated) Guilford Partially vaccinated 342,300 (+697) Fully vaccinated 322,307 (60%, +996) Boosted: 151,039 (+1,894, 44% of vaccinated)

BUSINESS PUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Brian Clarey brian@triad-city-beat.com

PUBLISHER EMERITUS

Allen Broach allen@triad-city-beat.com

OF COUNSEL

Jonathan Jones

Michaela Ratliff michaela@triad-city-beat.com

Chris Rudd chris@triad-city-beat.com

SPECIAL SECTION EDITOR

CONTRIBUTORS

Nikki Miller-Ka niksnacksblog@gmail.com

EDITORIAL ADVISOR

Jordan Green jordan@triad-city-beat.com

EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR

ART ART DIRECTOR

STAFF WRITER

SALES SALES EXECUTIVE

Sayaka Matsuoka sayaka@triad-city-beat.com Nicole Zelniker nicole@triad-city-beat.com

1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336.681.0704 CHIEF CONTRIBUTOR KEY ACCOUNTS

Charlie Marion charlie@triad-city-beat.com

Drew Dix drew@triad-city-beat.com

Carolyn de Berry, James Douglas, Matt Jones, Jordan Howse, Jen Sorensen, Clay Jones

COVER DESIGN BY CHARLIE MARION

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

Institutional memory: The James Hinson file

week before controversial Greensboro police officer James Hinson died last week, I by Brian Clarey got a text from an activist friend that foreshadowed the moment. “Hinson died?” It’s been so long that the cop they once called “Hercules” dominated the news cycle, it took a moment to register. But in 2006, Hinson, then a detective, was all over the news: His chief, since disgraced David Wray, had turned his secret Special Investigations Division unit on Hinson and other Black officers. Hinson got special attention: a tracker on his car, surveillance from other officers in the GPD, a 92-part series in the old Rhinoceros Times that besmirched his name repeatedly over almost three years. This was before the Blue Lives Matter, movement, understand. And some of those who wave that flag today are the very same people who were calling for these Black officers’ heads. There are so few working journalists left who remember the names: Elton Turnbull, the drug dealer who bought a home from Hinson before he was arrested and convicted; Julius

Fulmore, the cop built like a bull who claimed to have made the first crack bust in North Carolina; Scott “Scooter” Sanders, who along with Tom Fox was charged by the SBI with illegally accessing Fulmore’s laptop; Randall Brady, the one reporters called “Deputy Dog.” Nicole Pettiford. Charles Cherry. Ernest Cuthbertson. And there was the Black Book, a line-up of sorts containing images of Black officers that Wray and his secret police were persecuting. The Black Book was why City Manager Mitch Johnson locked Chief Wray out of his office and coerced his resignation. It launched a spate of lawsuits, bringing in the EEOC. And it ended the careers of many Black officers one way or another: They got shuffled off or dismissed or just left in frustration. But they never took out Hinson, who sat out his suspension, settled his lawsuit against the city and eventually rose to deputy chief. He lasted in the GPD until 2019, amid allegations of sexual impropriety by an employee at a group home Hinson owned. In the end he outlasted them all, except current Greensboro Police Chief Brian James and maybe a couple others. These events of recent history are often the first to go in the collective consciousness. But I’m more than happy to stir them back up.

by Michaela Ratliff

THURSDAY Feb. 10 Canvas Painting Workshops @ Distractions (HP) 6:30 p.m. Distractions invites you to spread the love this month with a series of painting workshops perfect for you to bring your friends and family. On this day, you’ll be painting a colorful country couple. Visit the event page on Facebook to register. Bump @ Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts (W-S) 8 p.m.

Valentines Weekend Extraordinaire @ Foothills Brewing (W-S) 12 p.m. Foothills Brewing is hosting a weekend full of events to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Love your beer, yourself and your community with the Sexual Chocolate beer release, yoga, food trucks fellowship and more. View the weekend’s schedule on the event page on Facebook. Pop Culture Trivia @ Stumble Stilskins (GSO) 7 p.m.

’80s Pop Art Explosion @ Brewer’s Kettle (HP) 7 p.m.

UP FRONT | FEB 10 - 16, 2022

CITY LIFE FEB. 10-13

Head to the Brewer’s Kettle this month to view an installation of pop art dedicated to the 80s featuring vivid colors, patterns and materials in pieces by local artists. Meet them during the artists’ reception on this day. Check the Facebook event page for more information.

SUNDAY Feb. 13

Spirit Gum Theatre Company and Teresa Prevatte are excited to announce performances of Bump, based on Jorge Odón and his invention, a birthing device, created in his garage. The play explores maternity and motherhood from different perspectives of those affected by it. For more information, visit the event page on Facebook.

FRIDAY Feb. 11 Mean Girls on Sale @ Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts (GSO) Online

Get your team together for pop culture trivia on Fridays with Don from Zero Dark Nerdy podcast. Find more info on the Facebook event page.

Salem Band Winter Concert @ Hanes Auditorium (W-S) 3 p.m.

SATURDAY Feb. 12 Greensboro Farmers Curb Market @ 501 Yanceyville St. (GSO) 7:30 a.m. Start your Saturday right by shopping at the market for fresh produce, meats and other goodies. Local vendors are offering candles, body care items and other handmade treasures that make great gifts for your Valentine. For more information, visit gsofarmersmarket.org/saturday-market/.

Salem Band invites you to their winter concert celebrating their 250th anniversary. Visit salemband.org for more information. Be My Valentine @ High Point University (HP) 3 p.m.

Open House @ The Luna Haven (W-S) 3 p.m.

What could be more fetch than this new musical based on the hit comedy film? Mean Girls will show Sept. 13-18. Purchase tickets at Ticketmaster.

The Luna Haven is hosting an open house for you to learn more about the city’s newest hot spot for massage and yoga therapy. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

The HPU Wind Ensemble presents a Valentine’s Day weekend concert including selections from West Side Story and other music about love. Find more information and view the livestream at www.highpoint.edu/live-stream.

NEWS | FEB 10 - 16, 2022

NEWS

Families already struggling from the pandemic work to survive in the midst of Weaver Fertilizer plant fire by Chad Nance

CHAD NANCE

The majority of people in the Weaver Fertilizer blast zone were Winston-Salem’s Black and Brown working class. They were already hurting when a disaster that they never asked for forced them from their homes.

Tomeaka George

here are cracks in the foundation of the three-room, wood-frame house. The rats come and go as they please, as they are wont to do. What heat Tomeaka George is able to generate from running an open stove along with a noxious kerosene heater flows freely through the cracks and leaches through the thin walls of their house on Melody Lane. George shares the house with Mom, a double amputee and stroke survivor who spent a lifetime working in a meat-processing plant, which provides her “retirement” with only a modest stipend and government assistance. She works at a local hotel cleaning rooms, but makes the trip back to her house three times a day in order to make sure that her mother is fed, gets to the bathroom and stays clean. Also in the home is Mom’s elderly brother, who needs near-constant care himself, and two of George’s daughters. It is Jan. 31. There are still piles of frozen snow on the ground; the air inside of George’s house bites with the same vicious determination as the air outside. She hears the sirens first. They cut through the usual street and industrial noises that bleed into the house. Next she hears the amplified voice of a Winston-Salem

firefighter telling her to evacuate her home immediately. No explanation. Just get the hell out and do it fast. Red lights splash through the front windows as the sounds of the siren and the voice grow more insistent. With her daughter’s help they are able to get Uncle dressed for the outside and Mom into her wheelchair. George doesn’t have a car right now and she has no extra money — not after she just paid the rent. Before she even pushes Mom out into the frigid air, George knows that if they are going to get away from here, they will be doing it on foot. Huddled together in the cold they all begin to walk. Three houses up Melody Lane runs into Cherry Street. One block away from the Weaver Fertilizer plant. Breathing is difficult from the jump. Tomeaka has everyone put on masks, but the noxious smoke works its way into their noses, their eyes. It burns the skin. When they reach the corner of Melody and Cherry Street, all Tomeaka can see of the fertilizer plant is the angry orange glow of the fire and a dark, billowing column of smoke that stretches into the air like something out of the Old Testament. Mom starts to scream while fear grips all of them. Tomeaka tries to keep her own fear under control and somehow calm the others. She knows that they have to

get away, but how far is safe and how are they going to do this in the cold, through the smoke, on foot pushing Mom in a wheelchair? Tomeaka does exactly what Tomeaka has had to do all of her life. “I put my trust in the Lord and we just started walking away as fast as we could,” she recalls, “and I tried not to look back.

Brandon and Xzavier Brown

t is 3 a.m. when Brandon and Xzavier Brown hear the fire trucks outside of their brick ranch house on Delmonte Drive, just off of Polo Road. More red lights, this time coloring broad, well kept lawns. The the fireman calls out his warning through the speaker. The Browns are a hard-working couple with six young children. He’s an Amazon delivery driver. It is impossible for her to work full time with six children, but she takes third shift work from time to time then sleeps whenever she’s able. The brutal realities of the COVID-19 pandemic have been both economic and health related for this family — Xzavier has had the virus three times and the whole family had it earlier in January. Between kids and work they don’t get online very much and hadn’t gotten word that the Weaver fertilizer plant is engulfed in flames and smoke. They have no idea that more than 6,000 people in a 1-mile radius from the plant need to evacuate their homes immediately. Most importantly, they haven’t heard that there are enough dangerous chemical compounds at the plant in quantities that, if mishandled, could cause the largest land-based explosion in United States history since the Nevada desert nuclear test of the 1950s. Brandon and Xzavier don’t know that the same kind of chemicals that flattened West, Texas and tore through the Beirut waterfront with apocalyptic fury are located less than a mile from their house, in a plant that had already had one fire in the last month. What they do understand at this moment is that they have to gather their children and they have to get out. Neither one of them has ever seen or heard of fire trucks coming through the neighborhood with a warning like this, and they take it seriously. Both can smell the smoke and taste the chemicals. Xzavier thinks about her children breathing in the smoke, and is sure of only one thing. They have to flee. The young couple manage to get all of the kids out of the house. They make sure that all of the kids have masks against the acrid smoke. Somehow they get all six kids, including the baby, into the car. Everyone is in pajamas; they don’t take anything with them beside their IDs. One thing they definitely didn’t have was cash. Even though they have work, money is tight. It’s the end of the month and they just struggled to pay all of their bills. There is absolutely no money for a hotel room and no relatives locally who could take them in. They drive around the city for a while, then they park in an empty parking lot to try to stay warm and figure out what has happened. Their entire family of eight is out of the blast zone…. Now what?

Shelby Wilson and Giovanni Reynoso

hen Shelby Wilson first hears the knock at the hotel door she thinks that it must be the clerk, finally telling them they have to get out. Her husband Giovanni Reynoso is working, but it isn’t nearly enough and they haven’t been able to pay for the room. With six kids and one on the way, just feeding the family every day is an uncertainty. Shelby is awake when the police officer knocks because she can’t sleep with this worry weighing her down. Wilson is a small-town girl from Tennessee, but Reynoso has family in Winston-Salem. Before the pandemic Reynoso had a good job, they had a vehicle and they had a roof over their heads. The arbitrary cruelty of the pandemic took all of that away — first the car then the house. Relatives were struggling themselves, so taking in the couple with their six kids and one on the way simply wasn’t an option.

Now the man is at their door and the rent is way past due. As soon as Reynoso opens the door smoke begins to slither into the room. Even as the officer is telling them that they have to flee, Wilson begins to gather up the children. She can smell the smoke. It burns her nose. What’s it doing to the baby? Jesus, she doesn’t even know yet if it’s a boy or girl. Reynoso rides in the passenger’s seat of a Winston-Salem police cruiser. Two of his little ones are in the back seat. Wilson is in a cruiser in front of them with the other kids. As they pull out of the parking lot Wilson can see up Northwest to Cherry Street, where the whole world seems to be ablaze. The horizon glows orange and red while the column of black, poison smoke looms over her and their family as officers drive them out of the blast zone. They came to Winston-Salem hoping things would be better.

NEWS | FEB 10 - 16, 2022

NEWS

Families were already hurting

omeaka and her family were walking away from the blaze when they were picked up by a Winston-Salem police officer. He gave them $50 to get a hotel room for the night. Even with that, she couldn’t afford a room so the officer took them to the American Red Cross shelter in the process of being set up at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum Annex. There were no cots yet, no steaming trays of food and emergency blankets like the television commercials. This disaster came with no warning and there was no time to get those things in place. What they did have were some folding tables and chairs. Shelby, Giovanni and their children were already there. No toys, no electronic gadgets, no options but to sit down in plastic chairs and try their best to keep themselves quiet. Their children ran across the wide open concrete expanse of the empty annex trying to burn off energy while the adults huddled around tables trying to process what had just happened to them. Brandon and Xavier hadn’t found out about the emergency shelter yet. They were still sitting in their SUV with the engine running to keep warm and their six children trying to be comfortable in the back. It would be four days before rain and the Winston-Salem Fire Department were able to get the blaze under control, to ensure that a massive chemical explosion wouldn’t rip a hole in Winston-Salem flattening houses, killing thousands and sending a shockwave miles beyond the initial blast site at Weaver Fertilizer. Thousands of human beings just like Tomeaka, Xzavier, Shelby and their families would be displaced for days, depleting funds that they didn’t have in the first place on hotel rooms, meals, and basic necessities. Money they would never have had to spend if this hadn’t occurred. Thousands more were forced by economic circumstances to go back to their homes before it was remotely safe. They lived with the threat of violent death and in the cloud of poison smoke for days because they simply had no options — none that were communicated to them, anyway. The shelter provided had no facilities for showers, privacy or personal space for belongings, no way to stay safe from the virus that continues to ravage our community. The majority of people in the Weaver Fertilizer blast zone were Winston-Salem’s Black and Brown working class. They were already hurting when a disaster that they never asked for forced them from their homes and to spend resources that were already stretched to their thinnest, all during a historical pandemic that also disproportionately affects their communities. Just because the fire is out and residents can go back home does not mean the trauma and risk are over. The Weaver Fertilizer fire has simply alerted the broader community to the struggles and risk their neighbors inside of the blast zone live with every day. Donations and requests for assistance can be made at: loveoutloudws. com/relief

NEWS | FEB 10 - 16, 2022

NEWS Guilford County working to alleviate broadband issues through data collection, funding allocation by Sayaka Matsuoka

eigh O. of Whitsett is tired of playing “the game.” Every couple of months, she has to take time out of her day to call Spectrum’s customer support and ask for them to lower her rates. When she initially signed up, they offered her an introductory rate of $54.99 per month. After one year, the price went up to $69.99. But as a disabled woman over the age of 50, paying that much for internet alone is financially burdensome. “I have a problem with affordability and the lack of competition in every zip code,” she said. “The lack of competition keeps prices unaffordable. I’m disabled and my income is disability only — $70 per month for internet only via Spectrum is not at all reasonable.” For the last several weeks, Guilford County staff have been working to collect stories like Leigh’s in an effort to understand the problems many county residents have when it comes to accessing or affording high-speed internet. Recently, the county approved a $500,000 contract with Guidehouse, a Chicago consultancy firm, to gather information and make recommendations to alleviate the issues. So far Guidehouse and county staff have collected data from an online survey, hosted multiple community meetings and conducted interviews with stakeholders, such as staff with Guilford County Schools and the area municipalities, to get a full scope of The county’s presentation shows which districts have the best and worst internet access and options. the problem. This kind of comprehensive project, according to Assistant Coun“You have to be very methodical, very intentional about how you spend the money ty Manager Jason Jones, is the first of its kind for Guilford County. for community resiliency as it relates to this ever happening again,” Jones said. “It’s been a lot of information,” Jones said. “We haven’t really moved in this space so it’s really great to be able to use this as an opportunity to hopefully set a Location matters precedent of engagement.” nitial conversations about broadband access and affordability According to Jones, the $500,000 contract was executed through $104 million in began towards the beginning of the pandemic, when schools first funds provided by the federal government to Guilford County through the Amermoved to virtual learning. Many students and families found that ican Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, last year. So far about $2 million of that funding they didn’t have adequate internet access or speed to keep up with has been used, according to Jones, and depending on the recommendations that video calls and online classes. Around the same time, Guilford County Schools Guidehouse brings forth, some of the remaining $102 million could be used to noted that even the wifi hotspots they set up using buses in different parts of the implement solutions. county weren’t optimal because of the lack of access in some areas. However, Jones noted that the funding allocated through ARPA came with For Leigh O., who preferred to go by just her last initial for fear of online hadifferent rules than previous funding, such as money from the CARES Act in 2020. rassment, the problem isn’t just her financial status but her location. As a resident With ARPA, Jones said that the government requires a lot more documentation of Whitsett, Leigh lives in District 4, in the easternmost part of Guilford County. and reporting. That’s why he says the county is being methodical about how they That area, which spans from Browns Summit through McLeansville and down to spend it. Forest Oaks, has been found to have “less consumer choice and the lowest quality “We’re trying to figure out what is more pressing and optimize local, state and broadband” according to findings by Guidehouse. Districts 1, 2, 7 and 8 which federal dollars to get the most bang for our buck,” Jones said. “What are the things span from southeast Guilford County in High Point and Jamestown through south we should strategically prioritize?” Greensboro and into the northeastern parts of the city, were found to have “less In addition to data collection around broadband access, county staff are also consumer choice and may face affordability barriers.” The remaining districts 3, conducting simultaneous projects looking at healthcare access, education and 5 and 6 which start in central Greensboro and span westward towards Colfax, workforce development so they will have to determine how much money to spend Kernersville and northwest to Oak Ridge, Summerfield and Stokesdale fared the on each issue in the next few months. best of all with “greatest consumer choice and highest quality broadband in terms For the ARPA funding, Jones said that they have until the end of 2026 to spend of number of provider options and internet speeds available.” the funds, which must be committed to projects by the end of 2024. To determine According to Wirefly, a phone and internet provider comparison website, 97 how to allocate the roughly $102 million that remains, Jones said the county will be percent of consumers in Greensboro have access to DSL and 99.8 percent have opening up a portal on their website on Feb. 14 for the public to submit their ideas. access to cable. Only 25 percent have access to fiber technology, which is one of The goal is to allocate the funds by the end of June 2023. the fastest internet options. The average upload speed in Greensboro is 6 Mbps or megabits per second, while the average download speed is 9 Mbps. Mbps is a

unit of measurement for network bandwidth. Another comparison website, BestNeighborhood.org noted that the average Guilford County home can expect to get speeds up to 45 Mbps with DSL. However, even getting that much would be a dream for people who live on the outskirts of the county like GC Ritchie. Ritchie, who also lives in District 4, said that it’s not an affordability issue, but an access issue. “We know that fiber runs in a couple of miles within our house but I’m not sure who’s going to invest to get it to run to all these country houses,” Ritchie noted. “I can see that almost all of Guilford County has 25 Mbps which is what they think should be a good standard and almost the whole county seems to have that except this southeastern corner.” Ritchie, who currently uses AT&T for his internet service, says that he’s lucky if he gets anywhere from 3-5 Mbps for the $61 per month that he pays. Most of the time his internet is so slow that it prevents him from conducting telecalls for work, which he says he tries to do from home. “This morning I was on a video call with one other person and I was frozen the whole time,” he said. The problem, he says, is that there are so few houses spread so far apart that he doesn’t think any company would find it profitable to lay down more cable or other infrastructure for faster internet. For the last year or so, he and his neighbors had been waiting for Starlink, a satellite internet service operated by SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company, to reach their coverage area. “A lot of people have signed up,” Ritchie said. “You have to pay $100 up front. It was supposed to be available in the last half of last year, but it didn’t happen. Now it’s supposed to happen in the first half of this year. It’s not as good as cable and I think it would be like $100 per month and it would be $500 for the equipment but I would do it in a heartbeat.” Although Ritchie doesn’t have any children in school, he’s seen firsthand the

impact that slow internet can have on kids’ ability to learn. When his grandkids visit him and try to do homework at his house, the internet is too slow. Even now, Ritchie sometimes has to drive to his daughter’s house 15 minutes away in Forest Oaks to be able to do his job. And it’s not just about work either. Ritchie says that because his internet is so slow, they can’t stream movies or TV shows like other families can and end up having to pay $100 per month for satellite. That’s another extra cost that wouldn’t exist if they had better options. “You can get so much for free if you’ve got good internet,” he said. As the county continues to get updates from Guidehouse, Jones said that the next steps will be figuring out the best solutions for the myriad of problems that consumers face and how to implement them. They’ll also have to decide whether they’ll use the federal funding from ARPA or try to use local or state dollars. Either way, Jones said that they know having access to high-speed internet, especially since the pandemic, has become more critical. “If you don’t have access to high-speed internet for work or school, there are probably a lot of other things that are important that are deficiencies that you can assume from there,” Jones said. “We are trying to more deeply understand that.” As for those who continue to struggle like Leigh O., who accesses the internet for everything from doctor’s appointments to Medicare updates and paying bills or shopping, all they can do for the time being is wait. “We need more competition for sure,” she said. “But some entity would need to make sure they were truly competitive and not fixing rates to remain high all over. And we need easier ways to complain about providers’ slow service or service interruptions. Complaining to your provider about your provider is just banging your head against a brick wall.”

NEWS | FEB 10 - 16, 2022

NEWS

Learn how the county’s spending ARPA funding on the county website.

To Shout for the Joy of Life!

Mark A. Norman Music Director/Conductor piedmontwindsymphony.com

Saturday, Feb. 12 7:30pm Centenary United Methodist Church

Featuring:

Demondrae Thurman

NEWS | FEB 10 - 16, 2022

GEENA DAVIS Academy Award winner, known for roles in such films as The Accidental Tourist, Thelma & Louise, and A League of Their Own, and on television as the first female president in Commander in Chief.

FEBRUARY 26, 2022 UNCG AUDITORIUM | 8:00 PM For tickets visit UCLS.UNCG.EDU or call 800-514-3849

by Nicole Zelniker

inston-Salem’s Real Time Crime Center is about to get an upgrade. and take the offender into custody. Last year, the city set up a temporary facility to monitor local While the center has not been able to stop crime before it happens, Tollie hopes crime in real time. The idea is that police officers will be able to that will change, given the rising gun violence in Winston-Salem. solve crimes more quickly because they can see them play out as “It’s two parts,” said Tollie. “It’s certainly assistance in clearing the crimes after they take place. they happen, but from a crime prevention standpoint, the more this is advertised, The city established the temporary center while waiting for a $700,000 grant the more people will know we have the ability to access this camera footage. which came through earlier this year for the permanent facility. Using the funds, “Unfortunately, I can’t say we’ve seen a decrease in gun violence,” he continued. the city will work with Constant Technologies, a company that “Locally and nationwide, we’ve seen an increase in crime. I specializes in video-wall and technology integration. do believe the Real Time Crime Center has helped us clear “With real-time access, it will ultimately allow us to better a lot of investigations really quickly, but the numbers are still serve the community,” said Winston-Salem Police Department up.” Cpl. Brady Ferguson. Before the implementation of Fusus, Winston-Salem police The current center contains a wall of monitors, while in the officers would often go door-to-door after a crime, asking new space there will be individual monitors lined up in rows, businesses for footage. Assistant City Manager Patrice Toney each monitoring a camera. Officers assigned to the crime says the combined Real Time Crime Center and Fusus techcenter will sit in front of their own monitors and be able to see nology will allow police officers to “do what they’ve always both the city map and zoom into specific locations. At some done, just at lightning speed.” WSPD Captn. Steve Tollie point, officers might be able to see this information through an “They are singing its praises,” Toney said. “They absolutely app, but nothing has been confirmed as of now. Though the see that it’s effective. It’s helpful in solving crime and speeds city hopes to allow opportunities for the public to come in latup officer’s ability to gather data that otherwise would take a er, the initial building will only be for those involved with the center. Police Captn. long time to collect. They’re extremely excited about this technology. The expanSteve Tollie noted that the permanent facility will be much larger than the current sion of this center, they know for sure it will be effective in solving crime. This has one and will hopefully be completed by the end of the calendar year. been a tremendous help.” Recently, city council also approved the use of a $46,000 grant that will allow Toney believes that this approach will keep the Winston-Salem community safer. local businesses to register their cameras with the police and allow the police to “In a time where we’re in a pandemic, that’s a hardship on city staff,” she said. access that footage more quickly in turn. The grant will begin the city’s partnership “Having cameras gives the existing staff an extra leg in being able to solve crime. It with Fusus, an Atlanta-based service that uses technology to allow police officers to doesn’t take as much resources.” tap into cameras across the city with the camera owners’ permission. The center will expand just as the grant goes into effect. “You’re gonna see more of this now that we’re with Fusus, we’re going to try to do some public service campaigns where we share info with the community and educate the community on the program,” said Tollie. “We get questions along the NOW LEASING lines of, ‘Is this Big Brother?’ And I want to make it clear to the public that this isn’t what that’s designed to do. The cameras we’re working with are in public areas. THE STEELHOUSE CENTER FOR Businesses, freeways. And those cameras are already in place. What this tech allows URBAN MANUFACTURING AND INNOVATION us to do is to use that footage more quickly.” Real time crime centers are becoming more popular across the country, and more controversial in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and a national conversation around defunding the police. The Lens, a New Orleans-based publication, reported that police used such technology to dispute a workers compensation claim and justify firing three city employees just this month. In Birmingham, Al., the city approved a reportedly ineffective and racist software for their own center according to BirminghamWatch, as facial recognition technology has a harder time identifying Black faces than white faces. Locals in Winston-Salem also have concerns. “I’m just thinking about how Triad Abolition Project and SF Park were directly speaking with the city and in the city council meetings last year asking them not to expand police surveillance,” said TAP’s Bailey Pittenger. “There’s so much going on in the world right now and honestly, TAP is trying to push to have more people involved in city council. There seems to be limited access to raising our voices.” Advocates for such centers point to their successes. For example, WXII reported that the WSPD was able to use the temporary center in March 2021 to catch suspects in the fatal shooting of a 4-year-old. Additionally, police were able to solve the kidnapping of a woman and apprehend the kidnapper’s vehicle, resulting in the woman coming away physically unharmed. Several months later, police used the technology to stop a bank robbery

NEWS | FEB 10 - 16, 2022

Winston-Salem’s crime-monitoring center to expand with new grant

Locally and nationwide, we’ve seen an increase in crime.

1451 S Elm Eugene Street #BusinessisBuiltHere 9

OPINION | FEB 10 - 16, 2022

EDITORIAL

OPINION

Bad faith and new maps for North Carolina

Republicans make up just 30.3 ere we are again: The party in power percent of that same electorate. has abandoned any It’s the map that deliberately pretense of represendilutes Black votes by omitting tative government and rejected majority-minority districts, which the agreement with citizens from were required by the Voting Rights whom their power should rightly Act of 1965 in a provision that derive. Once again they decree by was struck down by the US Sutheir actions that elected officials preme Court in 2013. should choose their voters, and It’s the map that delayed the not the other way around. And 2022 primary from March until once again, a court has deemed May 17. these Congressional districts And it’s the map that the Genillegal, and that they must be eral Assembly has until Feb. 18 redrawn before the 2022 primary, to rectify by drawing a new one. scheduled for May. That’s next week. This time it was Smart money says the North Carolina they’re not going to The party in Supreme Court that do it. Because when power has made the ruling. And this same thing has abandoned any happened in the past it only came before them because voter — new districts were pretense of groups sued the state in North representative proposed after a federal threeCarolina the very government. judge panel okayed same day that the the 14 districts, 11 of Voting Rights Act prowhich give Republivision was removed cans advantages both wide and in 2013 — the Republican-led GA thin (but mostly wide). was able to keep the issue in the This is the map that turns courts for many, many years. New, Guilford and Mecklenburg counfair maps were drawn in time for ties, both of which skew heavily the 2020 Congressional election, just one cycle, which means that left, into six different districts, five for six years we had improperly of which vote Republican. One elected officials casting votes in district, the 11th, puts the northern slice of Greensboro in the same the US Congress. district as Boone, more than 100 So it’s a safe prediction to say miles west, in a line drawn carefulthat we’ll see a new court filing ly to include Rep. Virginia Foxx’s before we see new maps. residence. And a new decision by the other It’s the map that cements miSupreme Court — the federal nority rule by ceding 78.5 percent one — does not bode well for fair of the electorate to Republican elections in the US. More on that candidates, though registered next week.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

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GC Ritchie | pg. 4

Jen Sorensen jensorensen.com/subscribe

February 5–May 8, 2022 The exhibition is organized by Aperture Foundation, New York and Kwame S. Brathwaite. The exhibition Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite and the accompanying Aperture publication are made possible, in part, with generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Photographic Arts Council Los Angeles.

Major Sponsors

The Cathleen and Ray McKinney Exhibition Fund

PLAN YOUR VISIT

reynolda.org/beautiful

Reynolda House Museum of American Art 2250 Reynolda Road Winston-Salem, N.C. Kwame Brathwaite, Grandassa Model onstage, Apollo Theater, Harlem, circa 1968; from Kwame Brathwaite: Black Is Beautiful (Aperture, 2019). Courtesy the artist and Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles.

CULTURE | FEB 10-16, 2022

CULTURE

Virginia Holmes’ Eve Gene exhibit showcases diverse female experiences by Sayaka Matsuoka

“In 2017 I suffered a miscarriage,” Virginia Holmes says. “The art that I create definitely mimics a lot of those emotions.”

TW: This article mentions miscarriages.

essentially told their narratives of having a womb and what that feels like and looks like for them.” The show, which opened on Feb. 3, showcases a total of nine artists, the youngest being just 14 years old. And as Holmes’ first public art show, the experience has been a particularly personal one. “In 2017, I suffered a major miscarriage,” says Holmes, who is 28 years old. “I was about five and a half months pregnant when I found out that I lost my child and had to have a full delivery. It was one of the most crushing experiences I’ve ever had. The art that I create today definitely mimics a lot of those emotions.” On the left wall as visitors first enter the gallery, they’re met with floor-to-ceiling scrolls painted by Holmes. Using a thick, geometric-print fabric as the canvas, Holmes scatters, throws, whips paint as an expression of her emotion, much in the style of Jackson Pollock. She says that it was in the few years before her miscarriage that she started to SAYAKA MATSUOKA paint and take the practice seriously. As a teenager, she suffered from depression and explains that she didn’t feel like she fit in with her family. “I recall from 2011 to 2015, really trying to figure out who I wanted to do,” Holmes says. “I felt really displaced from my family, like I didn’t fit in, and I think a lot of artists have similar situations that happen to them where they don’t feel accepted or feel like they can talk to anyone.” After dropping out of school and quitting her job, Holmes went into Michael’s on a whim and picked up some paint. “I just started making these weird pictures that didn’t really depict anything, but they had so many different colors in them, and I remember my friend telling me, ‘Girl you could sell this,’ and I was like, ‘I don’t want to sell them; these are my feelings,’” Holmes says. “Like my feelings aren’t for sale. That became me, not wanting to sell my emotions.” Painting, Holmes says, has become her way of dealing with trauma like in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder in summer 2020, when Holmes and other activists helped lead protests around the city. She says that since that time, she’s been keeping to herself and regrouping because of the toll it took on her emotionally and physically. Now, she’s opening herself back up through art. “These pieces are about the energy I’ve been keeping to myself,” Holmes says.

It’s about telling that beautiful story of women creating something from nothing. And what it looks like when you really just allow yourself to let go.

s Virginia Holmes walks through the birth canal, she points to the various works of art on its walls. She notes the geometric pieces by Dawn Leonard that map out the menstrual cycle and Kym Cooper’s colorful pop art dedicated to Henrietta Lacks. As Holmes continues through the space, she approaches Marva E.’s swirling drip art before making it to the uterus. A tall white column bisects the elongated room, creating pockets of space on either side — the ovaries. “I decided to, because of the layout of the gallery, kind of imitate the female reproductive system,” Holmes explains. “As you can see here, there’s only one way in and one way out of this space, representing of course, the birth canal.” An artist who has worked primarily in the underground scene for the past few years, Holmes curated a new exhibit that just opened at the Center for Visual Artists in downtown Greensboro called The Eve Gene. The idea, according to Holmes, was to invite various female artists to produce work connected to their physical experiences of being women. “I felt that it was important to open up the door [to people] who don’t get representation in general, and they may not look like me… but we’re also connected in some way,” Holmes says. “So I wanted to dedicate this exhibit to the womb instead and I wanted to have women create works of art that

CULTURE | FEB 10-16, 2022

Looking around the gallery, Holmes explains that many of the artists in the show have used the space to express themselves deeply. While some artists like Kidd Graves draw from their backgrounds by depicting folktales related to pregnancy, others like Estko and Marva E. made works that bring awareness to traumatic events like miscarriages or domestic violence. In the right ovary, Sky Sevier paints minimalistic, curving bodies of women of color highlighting the physical changes women go through before, during and after pregnancy. When inviting the artists to participate, Holmes says she told them what the show was about but didn’t put any boundaries on the kinds of work they could turn in. That includes the experiences of nonbinary artists such as Kidd Graves. Holmes says that she herself is still learning about the trans community and had in-depth conversations with Graves about who is or is not a woman. That’s all part of the fluidity and inclusiveness that Holmes wanted to foster in the show. The end result, Holmes says, is a multifaceted exhibit that showcases the diverse experiences of what it means to be a woman. “It’s about telling that beautiful story of women creating something from nothing,” Holmes says. “And what it looks like when you really just allow yourself to let go.”

The layout of the exhibit at the Center for Visual Artists mimics the human reporoductive system.

SAYAKA MATSUOKA

The Eve Gene is on display at the Center of Visual Artists Gallery through April 2. On March 3, there will be a private showing of the gallery. To buy tickets, visit mycvagreensboro.org.

CULTURE | FEB 10-16, 2022

East Bend’s Lawrence ‘Skip’ Long makes it CULTURE onto ‘Jeopardy!’ by James Douglas

JEOPARDY PRODUCTIONS, INC

Skip Long continues his run on “Jeopardy!” this week.

Lawrence “Skip” Long is a modern-day renaissance man who hails from East Bend, NC, just north of Winston-Salem. His varied background makes him a prime contestant on the popular show “Jeopardy!” this week. Long says he will donate to Love Out Loud, the organization working to help those displaced and affected by the Weaver Fertilizer plant fire in Winston-Salem.

Q A

Q A 14

Congrats on making it onto “Jeopardy!” Can you tell us a little about yourself?

My graduate school work was in actor-created physical theater in a program based on the pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq. My BA is in English from Clemson. After finishing graduate school, I worked in the North Carolina wine industry and then moved to Chicago in 2006 to be closer to a cultural center. In Chicago, I became a sommelier and studied improv at IO and the Annoyance Theatre and comedy writing at Second City. I was a sommelier in a restaurant in Evanston with an extensive wine list. I spent a year in New Mexico 2009-10, then moved back to North Carolina when my niece was born. I formally retired from restaurants in 2018. I got certified as an EMT in February of 2020.

What was the application process for the show like? Was it your first time? I’ve watched the show moderately since I was a child. I auditioned once in person in New York City in 2013 and went in the contestant pool. I didn’t really pay much attention to it until the pandemic and I decided to audition again in September of 2020. I got a follow up test in June of 2021 and then a Zoom audition in July/August. I got the call in October.

Q A

It’s obvious that you’re pretty knowledgeable in trivia, but once you knew you were going to appear, what did you do to prepare?

Starting in June I began to prep by doing 300 Final Jeopardy’s a day using J-Archive. It wasn’t until August that I started to log every game and track my progress. I also used extensive Sporcle quizzes and playlists to prepare. I would prepare daily between August and September and then I got the call at the end of October. About two weeks out, I realized that I was lagging behind in vocabulary and wordplay categories. I added the New York Times Crossword into my regimen. Those wordplay categories can be total wildcards within the rounds.

Q A

So what now, if you win? Any plans? Longstanding aspirations?

I owe my niece a trip to Hawaii. I’m finishing up nursing school so this will keep me out of restaurant gigs for the foreseeable future. Stay-at-home uncle started as a sort of joke to support and undermine my sister’s authority as a parent. I love her, but she used to pull my hair. As the pandemic progressed, it became school proctoring and monitoring for [my niece] while my sister worked. It also entailed day trips to go on adventures and see things. We have taken trips to the Georgia Aquarium to see the whale sharks, we have taken the train to Raleigh, been to the mountains and gone biking. She’s now in sixth grade and I shuttle her around after school between basketball practice and voice lessons. I will be making a donation to Love Out Loud to coincide with tonight’s appearance. Would love if this exposure got some recognition for the people in need post-evacuation.

SHOT IN THE TRIAD | FEB 10-16, 2022

SHOT IN THE TRIAD Green Valley Road, Greensboro

CAROLYN DE BERRY

More than 150,000 babies, including my son, were born at the Women’s Hospital in Greensboro. In April 2020 it was converted into a coronavirusonly field hospital where more than 4,700 patients were treated. Demolition began on the building, which is now owned by Deep River Partners, in January 2022.

PUZZLES | FEB 10-16, 2022

CROSSWORD

by Matt Jones

Across

1. “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” genie 6. Wing measurement 10. Rack purchases, briefly 14. Burger topping 15. “Pam & Tommy” streamer 16. Singletons 17. One of the “Friends: The Reunion” attendees 20. Boo-boo 21. March time 22. Filing target 23. Yang’s complement 25. Dept. of Justice agency 26. Setting the new mark, as in the Olympics 35. Book, in France 36. Felt badly 37. “La ___” (Debussy opus) 38. Stuff in batteries 39. Chunk of grass 40. Upcoming Paramount+ series based on a video game 41. “Volare (___ Blu Dipinto Di Blu)” 42. Absolutely not 43. “___ the Mirror” (song in the Broadway musical “MJ”) 44. Call center activity 47. “Winnie-the-Pooh” character 48. “No Time to ___” (2021 Bond film) 49. Grad 51. Kiss, in British slang 54. Song from “Turandot” 58. Like Peru and Mexico 61. Sex Pistols’ genre 62. Vital spark 63. Gate part 64. Planet dwellers of film 65. Indicate boredom 66. Stated further

Down

“Mixed Emotions”--feeling a little unusual.

1. Reduplicative name in a “Bizarre Adventure” manga 2. Over again 3. Smaller version 4. Cemetery 5. “Here Comes the Hotstepper” singer Kamoze 6. Lawnmower’s building 7. Untarnished 8. “What a shame” 9. Sister or mother, maybe 10. Art made of tiles 11. Prefix for body or gravity 12. Earth sci. 13. Tax ID 18. Foreign film ender 19. Asleep, usually 24. Actor Barinholtz 25. Worry (about) 26. Mel who voiced Yosemite Sam

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS:

27. Houston campus, for short 28. Bad things 29. Gullible 30. Charitable person 31. “Zut ___!” 32. Sultanate inhabitant 33. Historical object 34. Aerial photography aid 39. Audition tape 40. Give birth, informally 42. “Prometheus” actress Rapace 43. 3-D screening 45. Certain swimwear 46. Do landscaping work 49. “___ Named Scooby-Doo” (cartoon spinoff of 1988) 50. Daily Planet reporter 51. “Transformers” actor LaBeouf 52. “Clicker beware” letters 53. Not hidden 55. Fruit peel 6. “Bus Stop” dramatist William 57. Like some steaks 58. Relaxation spot 9. Shifty 60. “A clue!”

SUDOKU

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS: