TCB Feb. 16, 2023 — Mural Imperative

BY KAITLYNN HAVENS PG. 13

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COVER:

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first one few years ago, as I passed by an unremarkable store window, I realized something startling about myself: I was surprised by my reflection.

Abelong.

by Sayaka Matsuoka

I’m not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t what was reflected back at me: long black hair, slant eyes, tan skin, short stature, a flat nose.

Maybe it was because I was walking around with my friends, who are white. Maybe it’s because everyone else around me was white. In the years since, I’ve analyzed this moment and have realized that the disconnect really started decades ago.

As a child, I never really saw myself reflected in my community. My family moved to Greensboro from New York just when I was about to start grade school and from Kindergarten through college, I attended schools in the city. I didn’t have any Asian friends, much less Japanese ones, outside of my own family. As a result I made myself small; I conformed. I often felt as though I didn’t

When I returned to Greensboro in 2018 after a stint in the Triangle, I was welcomed back to Triad City Beat, first as a staff writer. (I had been an intern in 2014). Then I moved up to associate editor, and for the last few years, I’ve held the title of managing editor. But it hasn’t been until recently that I’ve fully embraced my role. I didn’t think I deserved the title. What did it mean anyway? Who was I to lead a paper, even one as small as ours? Was I qualified? What did I know?

But the picture is becoming clearer, my reflection sharper.

Taking the trust that Brian has consistently instilled in me through the years along with the backlog of stories I’ve produced in the last five years, I’m starting to see myself for who I truly am: As someone who wants this paper to accurately reflect this community that I so love. As someone who wants to hold those in power accountable while also being held in account. As someone who is capable of making it happen.

Because what I’m finally starting to realize is that I’ve always belonged here. And so do you.

Photo by Jerry Cooper (A Jeks painting commissioned by Hoots Beer Company of a scuba diver, wearing a nautical vintage diving helmet, floating through space)

The picture is becoming clearer, my reflection sharper.

The

- why sexual health is important for communities

- that asexuality also exists on its own spectrum

CITY LIFE

THURSDAY FEB. 16

Vitus Shell: ‘Bout It ‘Bout It, The Political Power of Just Being @ SECCA (W-S) 1 p.m. This exhibition of portraits by mixed-media collage painter Vitus Shell challenges the tradition of glorifying white monarchs, religious leaders and icons in art by creating empowering images of Black Americans. Visit secca.org for more information.

Relentless Roller Derby Interest Meeting @ Lewis Recreation Center (GSO 7 p.m.

Relentless Roller Derby invites you to learn more about how to join the team. The organization aims to create a safe space for women, non-binary and trans masc folks through the full-contact, fastpaced sport. No equipment is necessary. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

FRIDAY FEB. 17

Gate City Erotic Art Show @ Khalif Event Center (GSO) 7 p.m.

Arts Uptown Greensboro presents an exhibition designed for viewers to explore and strip away the stereotypes and stigmas surrounding sexuality as it relates to erotic art. In addition to erotic artwork, enjoy live music, live body painting, a burlesque show and more. Purchase tickets on Eventbrite

Titanic the Musical @ Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance (W-S) 8 p.m.

Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance takes you on a journey aboard the ill-fated RMS Titanic during this five-time Tony Award-winning production. A few tickets remain, so purchase at theatrealliance. ws/box_office

SATURDAY FEB. 18

Stephen Towns: Declaration & Resistance @ Reynolda House Museum of American Art (W-S) 9:30 a.m.

by MICHAELA RATLIFF

Stephen Towns: Declaration & Resistance opens on Saturday and will be on view until May 18. In the collection showcasing 37 works, painter and fiber artist Stephen Towns examines the American Dream through the eyes of Black Americans from the late 18th century to the present. Find more information and purchase tickets at reynolda.org

FEB. 16 - 20

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

Winnie-the-Pooh @ Sprinkle Theatre (GSO) 10 a.m.

North Carolina Theatre for Young People brings you a family-friendly production of Winnie-thePooh. Follow Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and the rest of the gang on their adventures through the Hundred Acre Wood. Tickets are available online at uncgtheatre.com

Salem Band will perform its free annual winter concert in Hanes Auditorium on the campus of Salem Academy and College. The band will play Blaze the Trail by Lisa Galvin, Percy Grainger’s Molly on the Shore and other songs for you to enjoy. Contact Dr. Eileen Young for more information at musicdirector@salemband.org.

MONDAY FEB. 20

Grand Opening Reception @ Theatre Art Galleries (HP) 5 p.m.

TAG invites you to its new home at Congdon Yards for its grand opening reception of Hide Tide in High Point Environmental Works, a photography exhibition and environmental installation by Bryant Holsenback and Barbara Tyroler. Register at tagart.org

SUNDAY FEB. 19

Yoga & Mimosas @ SouthEnd Brewing Co. (GSO) 10 a.m.

SouthEnd invites you to a Sunday morning all-levels yoga class followed by orange juice mimosas. Find more information and purchase tickets on Eventbrite

Plant-Based Junk Food @ Brown Truck Brewery (HP) 4 p.m.

Vuture Food is stopping by Brown Truck Brewery for a vegan food pop-up with crispy chick’n sandwiches and loaded fries. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information. Get the full events calendar by signing up for the Weekender, straight to your inbox every Thursday. pico.link/triadcitybeat

Winston-Salem City Council, explained

by Gale Melcher

The mayor of Winston-Salem and council members representing each of the city’s eight wards meet in the City Hall Council Chamber at 101 N. Main St. on the first and third Mondays of the month at 6 p.m. The mayor is elected at-large and councilmembers are elected by voters in each of the eight wards of the city. Council meetings are live-streamed on the city’s YouTube page, and agendas and minutes are also posted on the city’s website. The agenda is usually posted a couple days before a meeting.

The council votes on zoning matters during the first meeting of the month, whereas the second meeting is scheduled for decisions on general business.

The mayor presides over the city council meetings, only voting on items in the event of a tie between council members.

Responsibilities of the council include voting to make or amend city ordinances, policies, and consider zoning requests. Council members vote on items placed on the general agenda and the consent agenda — a list of items that will be approved in one vote by the council after having typically gone through extensive discussion. However, council members may request to pull items from the consent agenda so that they can be voted on separately. The council is also responsible for approving the city’s budget. City council approves appointments to City boards and commissions, and appoints the city manager and city attorney.

Unlike Greensboro’s city council, where matters are discussed in the general council meetings, in Winston-Salem, each council member serves on two of four committees. During committee meetings, council members will typically discuss items prior to their placement on future city council meeting agendas, and then vote on whether to recommend them to council for approval.

Two of the committees — the 2 p.m. Public Safety Committee and the 4 p.m Community Development/Housing/General Government Committee — meet on the second Monday of the month. The other two meet on the

second Tuesday of the month; the Public Works Committee at 2 p.m. and the Finance Committee at 4 p.m.

In January, city council voted to change the meeting times for all events, including the committee meetings, despite public pushback.

The next city council meeting is set to be held on Feb. 20 at 6 p.m.

gain, unlike Greensboro, candidates for mayor and city council in Winston-Salem participate in a partisan primary election, and winners from those races head to the general election.

The mayor and council members serve four-year terms and are elected in even-numbered years, however elections were formerly held during odd-numbered years before municipal elections shifted to even-numbered years. The 2016 election was the first even-year election for the city’s mayor and city council.

The next election will be held in 2024.

WINSTON-SALEM CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS Mayor

Mayor Allen Joines has served as the mayor of Winston-Salem since unseating Republican Jack Cavanagh, Jr. in 2001, becoming the longest-serving mayor in the city’s history. Joines was appointed chairman of the North Carolina Economic Development Board in 2009. Before his tenure as mayor, Joines worked as deputy city manager for the city from 1971 to 2000.

North Ward

Denise D. Adams has been on council since 2009. Adams was appointed mayor pro tempore in 2020 after the death of former council member Vivian Burke. In 2018 Adams pursued Republican incumbent Rep. Virginia Foxx’s seat representing North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District in the US House of Representatives. Adams secured her victory in the Democratic primary but lost to Foxx in the General Election. In addition to her role as mayor pro tem, Adams serves as the chair of the Community Development/Housing/General Government Committee and the vice chair of the Finance Committee. The boundaries of the North Ward begin downtown near West Fourth Street and reach north toward Tobaccoville.

Northeast Ward

Elected in 2020, councilmember Barbara Hanes Burke is the vice chair of the Public Works Committee and a member of the Public Safety Committee. Burke is the daughter-in-law of former Northeast Ward representative Vivian Burke. The ward starts near the center of the city, reaching up to the northwest side of the ward towards Rural Hall and is bordered in the east by Walkertown.

East Ward

Councilmember Annette Scippio has been a member of council since 2018 when she was selected to fill the seat of former council member Derwin Montgomery following his appointment to the state House of Representatives. Scippio is the vice chair of the Community Development/Housing/General Government Committee and a member of the Public Works Committee. The East Ward is divided by Salem Lake, with the area’s boundaries beginning downtown in the west and stretching east toward Kernersville.

Southeast Ward

Councilmember James Taylor, Jr. was elected in 2009 and serves as the chair of the Public Safety Committee and is a member of the Finance Committee. Taylor is also the publisher and managing editor of the Winston-Salem Chronicle, a community news publication dedicated to covering the city’s Black community. The Southeast Ward includes Waughtown Street along with part of Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive to the west and High Point Road to the east.

South Ward

Councilmember John C. Larson has represented the South Ward since 2016. Larson serves as a member of the Public Works Committee and is the vice chair of the Public Safety Committee. The South Ward is home to City Hall and includes part of Clemmonsville Road near its southern boundaries.

Southwest Ward

Councilmember Kevin Mundy has been a city council member since 2020. Mundy is a member of the Public Safety and the Community Development/Housing/ General Government committees. The Southwest Ward stretches toward Clemmons with South Stratford Road/US 158 cutting across the area.

West Ward

Councilmember Robert C. Clark was elected in 2001. The sole Republican on council, Clark is the chair of the Finance Committee and a member of the Community Development/Housing/General Government Committee. The boundaries of the ward push up against Lewisville in the west with Robinhood Road lining areas in the north and County Club Road in the south.

Northwest Ward

Councilmember Jeff MacIntosh has been in office since 2013. MacIntosh is the Chair of the Public Works Committee and a member of the Finance Committee. The Northwest ward includes the west side of downtown and stretches past Bethania. MacIntosh will not seek election a fourth time in 2024 and is set to retire from council at the end of his current term. In an interview with TCB, MacIntosh said he believes the time has come for him to step down in order to make way for new leadership. “I am really hoping that announcing early will bring lots of candidates out of the woodwork to think about running,” MacIntosh said. “It’s a difficult job, it takes some time to figure out whether or not you’re interested in doing it.”

This piece is part of our CityBeat that covers Greensboro and Winston-Salem city council business, made possible by a grant from the NC Local News Lab Fund, available to republish for free by any news outlet who cares to use it. To learn how, visit triad-city-beat.com/republish.

On

A CityBeat story

Winston-Salem City Council votes to demolish historically Black-owned buildings lining Liberty Street

by Gale Melcher

On Feb. 6, Winston-Salem City Council voted to approve the demolition of three historically Black-owned buildings on North Liberty Street.

During the meeting, East Ward representative Annette Scippio asked if there was any way the buildings could be saved.

“These buildings are the last remaining structures in the African-American community that were for commercial use, owned and operated for Blacks,” she said. “I actually understand the fact that they have decayed dramatically. However, we are a community that celebrates preservation. They are the last vestiges of Black commercial enterprises, original buildings owned by African-Americans. We have no other buildings in a commercial district like these. It saddens me that we find it prudent to demolish structures and not to try to save them.”

The three items were originally placed on the consent agenda during a Dec. 13 meeting of the Community Development/Housing/General Government Committee where the demolition of the buildings was unanimously recommended by members of the voting body: Chair Denise D. Adams, Vice Chair Scippio, and councilmembers Kevin Mundy and Robert C. Clark.

During the Feb. 6 city council meeting Planning Director Chris Murphy told councilmembers that the matter had been brought to the city’s attention after it was discovered that an unhoused person had been living in 1409 N. Liberty St. — the home of Silver Front Dry Cleaners and Laundry Service, a

local business owned by Maxie Durant who passed away in 2008 at the age of 86. Other addresses on Liberty Street that are set for demolition include a structure at 1411 N. Liberty St. along with 1415, 1417, and 1419 N. Liberty St., a building that once housed landmarks like Good Times Lounge and other establishments. The three buildings were built between 1910 and 1940.

While the items were scheduled to be voted on during a Jan. 3 council meeting, they were removed from the consent agenda in order to have a public hearing at the Feb. 6 meeting. During the Feb. 6 meeting Scippio attempted to pass a substitute motion to delay the demolition but the vote failed 2-6. Ultimately council voted 7-1 in favor of demolishing the structures at 1409 and 1411 N. Liberty St., with Scippio casting the lone dissenting votes. Both Scippio and councilmember John C. Larson voted against the motion to demolish 1415, 1417, and 1419 N. Liberty St.

Murphy informed the council that the now-dilapidated properties presented an unsafe situation, adding that illegal activities such as drug use had been occurring on the premises. On Dec. 6 building inspector Jamison Roe sent reports to City Manager Lee Garrity declaring the buildings to be unsafe.

“Per city code and per the North Carolina general statutes, when we saw the conditions of these buildings we sent notices to the owners [and] held public hearings,” Murphy said, adding that the owners understand the conditions of the buildings.

“Following those hearings we issued them a demolition order that they

Feb. 8, Winston-Salem City Council approved the demolion of three historically Black=owned buildings on Liberty Street including this dry cleaners.

PHOTO BY GALE MELCHER

This piece is part of our CityBeat that covers Greensboro and Winston-Salem city council business, made possible by a grant from the NC Local News Lab Fund, available to republish for free by any news outlet who cares to use it. To learn how, visit triad-city-beat.com/republish.

could appeal or they could demolish within a certain period of time, or we bring it to council for demolition,” he said. “They have chosen to have it come to council.”

Murphy added that the tax value of 1409 N. Liberty St. is $45,000, and the tax office’s estimate to reconstruct it is $350,000. Murphy said that the neighboring buildings have similar estimates as well.

Murphy told council that it was his understanding that the property owners “don’t even want to pay the cost to demolish” and that it would be up to the property owners to “come up with the money to bring these buildings up to current standards.”

“It would be a substantial amount of money to bring these buildings back up to a safe standard,” he said.

“How did these buildings get into this kind of condition?” councilmember Larson asked, commenting that it looked like “years of neglect and deterioration” had taken a toll on them. Murphy responded that the buildings had not been occupied for a long time.

“It’s a shame that we’ve lost these buildings to neglect over [the] years,” Larson said, adding having a better system that would enforce code requirements earlier could prevent buildings from falling into disrepair and meeting the same fate as the ones on North Liberty Street.

Murphy responded that there isn’t a program that “monitors existing buildings for their condition,” to which Larson acknowledged, “Maybe that’s something that council could look at in the future.”

Years of disinvestment lead to demolition

The people who live in the community are disappointed too.

“They’re historic; these buildings are older than me,” 66-year-old Melanie Martin told TCB in an interview outside the condemned buildings.

Still, Martin conceded it’s too late for them to be restored.

“It’s gone,” she said.

Mayor Pro Tem Adams reminisced on her memories of walks along Liberty Street while she was growing up and responded to Larson’s question about how the buildings had fallen into the state they are in today.

“When a community has been left for decades of disinvestment, this is what you get,” she said. “This is a community that never got the investment that the other side of town got…. It was just the fact of the systems in place that disinvested our community.”

“We are trying to redevelop [and] rebuild our communities across this country,” she continued, adding that there are likely “thousands of buildings that have to come down.”

Scippio likened the demolition of the buildings to the ways in which Black

neighborhoods were destroyed during “urban renewal“ projects.

“I just wonder if we are sincere about preserving African-American heritage in this city,” she said. “We often demolish homes because the people are poor, and they can’t take care of their property, and so we expediently demolish houses. It just saddens me that we would automatically just demolish our Black community as it happened years ago with urban renewal.” Urban renewal is a process that includes the seizure and demolishment of property — both public and private. Gentrification can happen as aging infrastructure is modernized to make way for pricier housing, businesses and other developments. The displacement of low-income families and destruction of historic buildings are other examples of urban renewal’s consequences across the country.

Still, Adams said that the city is already working to improve other historically Black areas.

“We are going to change the way our communities look,” Adams said. “We all hate it, but think of the people that live in that community.”

Adams said that the city is building “choice neighborhoods,” and investing “millions and millions of dollars down the street to put in stores” and to decrease crime and violence.

“I hate it just as much as the next person because I lived on this street growing up,” Adams said. However, she said she would support the demolition of the buildings because “the community has plans, and they have spoken as to what they want their community to look like.”

Councilmember Barbara Hanes Burke stated during the meeting that council got feedback from both the community and the owners of the buildings before making their decision. Burke represents the Northeast Ward where the buildings are located.

“This is my community. I’ve been here my entire life,” she said. “We engaged with many community members and business owners on Liberty Street.”

She mentioned that city representatives had asked if the owners had a desire to rehab their properties but that they had expressed no interest.

“We had many of our homeless residents living on the sidewalk in front of these structures,” she said. “We had people living inside these structures and once we started to help the homeless in this area, we realized the conditions…” adding that the walls of these buildings were caving in and the ceilings were coming down.

“The property owners are not in disagreement with demolishing these buildings, and I am not in disagreement with it either,” she said. “For years we have had disinvestment in this area. I am going to do something about it for the time that I am on this council.”

City staff said they reached out to the owners of the buildings but said that they didn’t want to invest to fix the properties.

PHOTO BY GALE MELCHER

Parents Bill of Rights ostracizes LGBTQ+

kids

The disrespect that Republicans in the North Carolina Legislature hold for our public school system borders on outright contempt.

They don’t want to pay teachers — starting pay in 2022 was No. 46 in the nation at $37,127 and our top pay rate of $63,659 is No. 42. They have been fighting the Leandro decision, which would require the state to properly fund all public schools as guaranteed in our state constitution, since it was decided in 1997. And they have been furthering the decimation of our public schools with strong advocacy for charter schools, which in 2021 siphoned off $848 million of the $10.6 billion allocated for public education in the state budget.

And they show disdain for students and parents alike with SB49, the Parents Bill of Rights, which has already passed the Senate.

Among the fairly commonsense provisions — a right to see their kids’ grades, a right for their children to be assessed for special education, a right to refuse healthcare for their children — are a few Easter eggs for paranoid conservatives who are completely out of touch with parents in this state.

For example, “Instruction on gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality” cannot be a part of any curriculum between Kindergarten and fourth grade. These items are not currently part of state-mandated curricula.

Most egregious is the stipulation that teachers must report to parents if their student asks for a name or preferred-pronoun change.

What, exactly, is this supposed to accomplish?

Many parents of LGBTQ+ kids know exactly who their children are, which means there is no reason for the state, via public schools, to get involved.

What the Senate never explored is why some kids choose not to share their true identities with their parents. But the answer is fairly obvious: It would expose them to abuse, punishment, attempts at conversion or, sometimes, outright expulsion from the family unit.

So who is this supposed to help? Not the students, certainly, who are trying to figure out who they are. Not most parents, who know their children better than most of their teachers. The law seems designed to appeal to homophobes, and to empower them to act on their irrational fears.

Courtesy of NC Policy Watch

Most egregious is the stipulation that teachers must report to parents if their student asks for a name or preferred pronoun change.

Camino Law

413 S. Edgeworth St. GSO

336.365.0749

Camino-law.com

Se habla Español

For Abigail Seymour, family law is personal.

“I never thought I could be a lawyer,” she says. “I was an artsy kid. But I realized that I didn’t have to shapeshift, I didn’t have to wear a button-down Oxford and a tailored suit. I could be myself and put my own spin on it.”

After a successful career in photography, Seymour reinvented herself, studying at Elon Law School and passing the NC State Bar. She started Camino Law in October 2019, specializing in child-custody cases and most especially those involving the families of former addicts who are trying to reclaim their lives.

“The niche we found is families with children who have lost loved ones to overdose and addiction,” she says. “Those families need to navigate the courts system to get custody of those children. About 90 percent of our cases are child-custody cases.”

Her penchant for pro bono work comes from her grandfather, Whitney North Seymour, who famously represented a client pro bono before the US Supreme Court in 1937.

In January, Seymour was recognized by the Greensboro Bar Association for Outstanding Pro Bono Service in recognition of her work with the Triad immigrant community. Her office is bilingual — Seymour herself is fluent in Spanish after a long stint living in Spain in the 1990s, as are the other attorneys and staffers at Camino Law. And she takes pride in the fact that her office is recovery-friendly.

“A lot of people have been bruised in their own lives,” she says, “and that can affect their parenting style. So we see a lot of clients who are just sorting out how to be better parents.”

Abigail Seymour Camino Law

The name Locke Clifford still carries a lot of weight in North Carolina legal circles. Before he entered semi-retirement, Clifford was the premiere criminal

Law Offices of James Doermann PLLC

James Doermann started his one-man law practice for the same reason he joined the US Marine Corps in 2007.

“I like to protect people,” he says. “I like to fight for the underdog.”

After finishing up at the Citadel, after his time in the Corps, after law school, Doermann found himself working for Ernst & Young, in the Consumer Compliance division. It was a life of travel to big cities and nights in fine hotels. Then one day, while admiring the view from a boardroom on a New York hi-rise, he had his Big Revelation.

“I wasn’t helping anyone,” he remembers. “I wasn’t doing anything that impacted people in a positive way.”

So when his wife got a job in Greensboro he came along and hung his shingle.

He handles criminal law, with traffic infractions and DUIs as his bread and butter but with the capacity to handle the most serious of statutory crimes, and he is always available to handle veterans’ advocacy cases. And the former USMC Captain brings to the courtroom the same ethos he learned as a Marine.

attorney in Guilford County, and this is the law firm he started after he began making a name for himself. Now helmed by his son, Andrew Clifford, and distinguished criminal attorney Daniel Harris, the firm of Clifford & Harris remains a Tier 1 law firm according to Best Lawyers: Best Law Firms in NC with a track record of success for both high- and low-profile clients.

“We handle everything from speeding tickets to murder,” says Harris, who spends most of his time in state and federal court.

Finding a good criminal lawyer requires much more than a Google search. Experience, knowledge of the law and courtroom proficiency don’t often translate to internet reviews. The lawyers at Clifford & Harris have decades of combined experience on both the prosecutorial side and in defense of their clients. They’ve helped thousands of businesses and individual clients navigate the precarious corridors of justice.

“We don’t focus on reviews,” Harris says. “We are in the courthouse trying cases and actually defending our clients.”

If you find yourself arrested or the target of a law enforcement investigation, don’t hesitate to contact Clifford & Harris immediately for a vigorous defense. There is simply too much at stake.

“While I was deployed in Iraq,” he says, “I thought a lot about what it means to be an American, and how important it is for people to know those rights we fought for.”

The back of his business card explicitly advises what you should say during an interaction with police: Immediately invoke your Fourth and Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions without your attorney present, do not agree to a search and ask if you are free to go.

“Bottom line,” he says, “the state comes at you with a lot of resources. I see the imbalance of power and the systemic way our institutions can keep people down.”

We are all underdogs when facing the criminal justice system. And like all Marines, James Doermann goes where the fight is.

Nagle & Associates Personal Injury Trial Lawyers

380 Knollwood St. Suite 320 W-S 866.591.9169

336.933.4794

Naglefirm.com

just wanted a different type of firm,” says Carl Nagle, principal of Nagle & Associates Personal Injury Trial Lawyers, located inside the Bank of America Building on Knollwood Street in Winston-Salem.

That’s why Nagle & Associates work just one type of case: victims of car accidents, with a specific focus on cases involving significant traumatic injury.

“We don’t handle fender-benders,” he says.

Carl started off on the other side, as a claims adjustor for a major insurance company.

“I did nothing but defend at-fault drivers, their employers and their insurance carriers,” he remembers. “The insurance companies present themselves as benevolent organizations, the umbrella you stand under in the storm. But they make their money from collecting premiums, not paying claims, and they always pay as little as possible.

“I think the best training I ever had was carrying a checkbook for the insurance company,” he says, “seeing how they minimize payments or avoid them altogether.”

It’s staggering, he says, just how much an insurance company will pay a lawyer to defend a case instead of compensating an innocent crash victim.

He also noticed that many personal injury attorneys did not seek the

full value of significant injury cases because they did not understand the medical records.

In this disparity he saw opportunity. By knowing their tactics, Nagle can outflank standard claims denials using an intimate knowledge of the law fused with hard, medical-based evidence. He realized that a lawyer who really understood their cases could do much better for their clients. And that understanding begins with a true reckoning of the injuries suffered.

“The rubber hits the road with the medical evidence,” he says. “We have staff with medical expertise and we zero in on that to properly convey the true nature and extent of all injuries to the insurance companies.”

This law firm fully understands traumatic injury and the long-term effects that can result.

Also on staff are three licensed claims adjustors and two retired state troopers to assist with crash investigations and case presentations.

“We handle a lot of truck accidents,” Nagle says, “a lot of commercial vehicle accident cases. A lot of motorcycle cases — bikers like the fact that I’m a fellow rider. I know what happens when a bike begins to skid or how they corner.”

Nagle & Associates differs on one other important way from other personal-injury firms: Their fee structure. While most law forms take more than 33% of a settlement, their fee is 25%. And with seven offices statewide, Nagle & Associates has collected more than $500 million for their clients, all from insurance companies who thought they could pay less.

If you’ve been hurt in a collision and it’s not your fault, let Nagle & Associates handle your claim.

“Without legal representation, you don’t know what you’re entitled to,” Nagle says, “and they certainly won’t tell you what they truly owe.

Where’s the art?

New mural project aims to track and record public art in Winston-Salem

by Kaitlynn Havens

It’s a scene that frequent visitors of Winston-Salem’s various social media pages have seen time and time again. A post will report:

City council approves parkway dandelion sculptures; Monstercade reaches out to Bartsy in an attempt to commission art; The artist JEKS pays homage to deceased Winston-Salem rapper, SauxePaxk TB with a photorealistic portrait mural. Each story and project are then met with a dissonance of comments that range from skepticism to blatant confusion: “We’re the city of Arts and Innovation – where’s the art?”

The WSNC Mural Project is here to answer that question.

The Mural Project began in 2021 when John Armbruster, Vikki Vassar and Mark Lamb noticed that Winston-Salem was lacking a comprehensive list of public art, despite the moniker, “City of Arts and Innovation.”

Vassar describes the earliest stages of the project.

“I wanted to start aggregating data, having a resource that people could point to,” she says. “We started traveling through the city and when we saw something, we’d note the location and take a photo.”

With over 105 data points, the collection includes murals, sculptures, graffiti, ghost advertising and even previous murals that have since been repurposed. The intentions of this project are both art exposure and preservation.

“There was this group of girls in the early 2000s, the Renegade Ninja Cowgirls, running around downtown doing guerilla art, when there was nothing here,” Vassar explains. “But other than a News & Record article, there’s no publicly available records of this.”

The impermanence of public art, especially in cases like the Renegade Ninja Cowgirls, gives allowance for topical work. Their “positive-propaganda,” took place directly after the events of 9/11.

That same volatility leaves room for erasure over time.

“Through the project, we’re trying to lend some permanence to what is, by

Muralist Jeks, aka Brian Lewis, working on the Hoots Satellite mural in downtown Winston-Salem in August 2019.

PHOTO BY JERRY COOPER

A ghost advertisement on a Burke Street wall is a connection to the past.

PHOTO BY JERRY COOPER

nature, an impermanent thing. The art could be signage, advertising, anything,” Lamb says. “The purpose of a building may change through the years. A new owner or tenant may look at that art and say, ‘This doesn’t fit my needs; we need to do something different.’”

A prime example is the unknown future of the Hoots Satellite mural, a JEKS painting, commissioned by Hoots Beer Company of a scuba diver, wearing a nautical vintage diving helmet, floating through space. The building at 701 Trade Street, previously Elliot’s Revue, Luna Lounge and Test Pattern, most recently housed Hoots’ satellite location, which closed last month. Eric Weyer, co-owner of Hoots, explains their inspiration for the piece.

“There was nothing there when we moved in, but when it was the bar Satellite back in the ’90s, there was a space-themed mural, so we wanted to continue with that,” he says.

The space-themed mural was a painting by Armand de Navarre with John Blackburn, commissioned by Damon Carmona in 1998. The mural depicts a silver dome-shaped ship opening its door for bubble-helmeted, mostly nude beings who float out against a royal blue backdrop of constellations and planets. The piece, which is now one of the beloved examples of public art in the city, set the foundation for art on Trade St. as the Art’s District’s first mural.

As far as the most recent mural’s fate, “I’m uncertain,” Weyer says. ithout documentation and data, the discussion of preserving public art cannot happen,” says Armbruster. “We can use this data to prepare for dis-

The Historic East Winston Mural, a chronological depiction of varying accomplishments by WinstonSalem’s Black community, painted on the side of Titanic Food Mart, is an often overlooked piece.

PHOTOS BY JERRY COOPER

cussions regarding art in the City of Arts and Innovation. It’s a resource that doesn’t seem to be available yet.”

Many of the current data points on the map were plotted by Armbruster himself, after driving through various neighborhoods of Winston-Salem.

One of the often overlooked neighborhood murals is the Historic East Winston Mural, a chronological depiction of varying accomplishments of Winston-Salem’s Black community. Painted on the side of Titanic Food Mart by Marianne Di Napoli-Mylet and Donnell Williams in 2015, the mural is a highlight of the often hiddenin-plain-site art the Mural Project hopes to illuminate. But to do so, the organizers are looking for community involvement.

“We need everyone’s assistance,” says Vassar. “You walk by something, let us know it’s there, whatever it is.”

She continues, “It’s community members that are really going to flesh out this project and bring it from 105 points to 350 points. If anyone has pictures of past murals and can tell us where they were, we would love to get that information. I don’t have a way to photograph something that existed 15 years ago.”

They each hope that involving the community will encourage conversation

about the nature and definition of public art.

“The fact of the matter is, you can put something up there, and let the viewer decide whether or not they think it’s art,” Lamb explains.

The collaborative process is something the Mural Project depends on. Community members can submit recommendations of pieces they discover and consider public art through the contact section of the website.

Funding for the Mural Project currently comes directly from the sales of Vassar’s own artwork, @ thatblondegirlvikki. She refers to the project as a labor of love.

“We need a broadly available public resource for the art in Winston-Salem” she says.“We want to make a walkable map where the art is concentrated, to eventually do a coffee table book. It’s an ongoing process, but we want to pay respect to the art here in Winston. There is so much of it that people miss.” Learn

The future of the finished mural at Hoots Satellite by JEKS is unclear.

PHOTO BY JERRY COOPER

[W]e’re trying to lend some permanence to what is, by nature, an impermanent thing.

Mark Lamb

Sunny Hostin of ‘The View’ talks local ties and the importance of local news during visit to Elon Law School

by Autumn Karen

Though Sunny Hostin shines on the national stage as a fierce advocate for marginalized groups and victims of violence, to her godchildren she’s simply known as “Auntie” or “Titi.”

Her godson Rocque Tremaglio transferred to Elon University last year from Oberlin College in search of warm weather and a warmer college experience, both of which he says he’s found on campus. Being surrounded by a powerful circle of women, including Hostin, has been pivotal in his ability to make his way to the Triad to pursue his goals.

“Aunt Sunny is a light in a dark room,” says Tremaglio with a golden glow in his voice.

Growing up in the Bronx, Hostin always knew she was headed for something bigger than herself. The daughter of a Puerto Rican mother and a Black father, at first it seemed as though journalism would be her way of making a positive impact on the world. While law school at Notre Dame proved to be the first step on her path as a change agent, she always came back to the importance of the news. After spending time with Court TV and hosting her own show on CNN, ABC came calling. For the last seven years, she’s been a host of “The View,” in addition to being a senior legal correspondent for the network.

In a sit-down interview with TCB during her recent visit to Greensboro as the featured speaker in the Elon Law Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series, she shared her ties to the city. Seated in Elon’s mock courtroom, Hostin appeared at ease dressed in a bold, wide-leg emerald suit.

She shared how her father, William Cummings, spent more than 20 years living in Greensboro, working for Lorillard Tobacco.

Sunny Hostin of “The View” spoke at Elon Law School on Feb. 9

PHOTO BY ELON UNIVERSITY

“ You don’t have to move to a big city to have a big impact.

Sunny Hostin “

“Greensboro became the gathering place for the entire family,” she says. Starting in her twenties, she recalls coming down to visit him and her grand mother regularly. With a nostalgic smile, Hostin recalled fond memories of family gatherings at Print Works Bistro in the Proximity Hotel.

In her view, places like Greensboro are just as worthwhile as metropolitan centers for those intent on building a better world. When asked what advice she would give her godson Rocque about staying in the Triad or heading to a bigger city to make a name for himself, Hostin circled back to her grounded view of being a change agent.

“You don’t have to move to a big city to have a big impact,” she said. The same goes for smaller news organizations, Hostin said. hough she’s spent decades on national television, Hostin believes in the impor tance of local journalism.

While at CNN, Hostin read a local news piece out of Seminole County, Fla. about a 17-year-old who had been shot by a member of the local neighbor hood watch. After being told that it was a “local story” by producers, she went to Anderson Cooper with her belief that it had national implications. His cov erage of Trayvon Martin’s murder changed the conversation, instantly making the local story a national one.

Hostin still pours over local papers more than a decade later.

“There’s less and less local reporting today, and that saddens me,” she said. “If it’s happening in one place, it’s happening everywhere.”

According to Hostin, coverage of things like city council meetings and neighborhood stories are the heart of the news world. She draws a direct line between the ability of national outlets to cover important issues and the small print publications that break the stories first.

“So many people are saying that journalism is dead,” she says. “I take offense to that.”

Sunny Hostin poses with a fan, left, and her godson Rocque Tremaglio, right.

PHOTO BY ELON UNIVERSITY

Opening February 18

Healers, Guardians, and Nurturers

February 18 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Free with Museum Admission

Panel discussion with painter and fiber artist

Stephen Towns; curator Kilolo Luckett; and moderator Dr. Paul Baker, public historian and director of the Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh.

reynolda.org/towns

Stephen Towns: Declaration & Resistance is organized and toured by The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA.

Curated by Kilolo Luckett.

Stephen Towns: Declaration & Resistance is supported by Eden Hall Foundation; Arts, Equity, & Education Fund; De Buck Gallery; the National Endowment for the Arts; and the Hillman Exhibition Fund of The Westmoreland Museum of American Art. This exhibition is completed in partnership with the Rivers of Steel Heritage Area with funding provided in part by a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation, Environmental Stewardship Fund, administered by the Rivers of Steel Heritage Corp.

Major Sponsors

SHOT IN THE TRIAD

BY CAROLYN DE BERRY

Chestnut Street, Greensboro

February afternoon.

CROSSWORD SUDOKU

by Matt Jones

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS:

Across

1. “Will you allow me to demonstrate?”

5. Rainbow fish

10. Comedian Miranda

14. Multivitamin additive

15. “Explain, please?”

16. Latin for “you love”

17. Feat in a two-on-two wrestling match?

19. Traveled by bus or bike

20. What a welcome sight relieves, idiomatically

21. “The old-fashioned way” to make money, per a classic ad

23. Mag. positions

24. Billy Ray or Miley Ray (that is her full name)

25. Long March leader

27. “Air mail” or “63 cents,” for instance?

33. Magnum follower

35. “Ya know?”

36. “Little Women” character

37. Type of code or colony

38. News story

42. Repetitive

44. Bird that a “de-extinction” company is trying to bring back

45. Fake info leading to a wrong (but funny) location?

49. ___ Brands (KFC owner)

50. Accumulate

51. What you can’t stand to have?

53. “Big” WWI cannon

55. Short personal stories?

60. “Cinderella Man” antagonist Max

61. Nickname for a gangster with bags under his eyes?

63. Neighborhood

64. Window features

65. Poker throw-in

66. Highway entrance

67. Lock of hair

68. Word that can follow both words of each long answer

Down

1. Medium range speakers, slangily

2. Buck’s ending

3. Ump’s statement

4. Asleep, usually

5. Pronoun chosen as the American

Dialect Society’s latest Word of the Decade

6. Flower in a dozen

7. Nocturnal flyers

8. Stadium chant, sometimes

9. Big volume

10. Senate Majority Leader from 2007 to 2015

11. King of gods, in Egyptian myth

12. The “R” in “pi R squared”

13. Malaria fly

18. Decreased

22. German for “eight”

25. Type of mentality

26. Koko, e.g.

28. Not live, so to speak

29. Make changes to

30. Secondary course of study

31. Babble on

32. Lots (of)

34. It helps keep your heel from falling out of your heel

39. Small keyboard

40. Scholastic URL ender

41. Tattoo of the ancient mariner?

43. Still-alive member of CSNY

45. Name after Abdul46. 1998 Masters and British Open winner Mark

47. Name before Abdul48. Scheduling spot

52. Cult classic Britcom with the theme song “This Wheel’s On Fire”

54. Planner abbr.

55. Dermatology case

56. Tiny Tim’s strings, for short

57. “___ of the D’Urbervilles”

58. Bi- times four

59. Hide-and-go-___

62. Rower’s need

‘Where Is the Library? — read-y or not.

© 2023 Matt Jones

© 2022 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com)