CITY LIFE
THURSDAY
Doggie Ghost Sip & Paint @ High Point Bistro (HP) 7 p.m.
The Painted Daizy and High Point Bistro are partnering for an evening of painting and sipping fun. Tickets include all materials and full instruction to paint your own dog in a ghost costume on a 16 by 20 acrylic canvas. Purchase tickets at thepainteddaizy.square.site
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FRIDAY
Big Bounce America @ Shooting Star Horse Farm (GSO) Times Vary by Session
The “World’s Largest Bounce House” is coming to Greensboro! Featuring a 24,000 square-foot bounce
OCT. 3 - 5
house, a 900-foot obstacle course and the brand-new deep-sea foam party inflatable OctoBlast, this is a familyfriendly, action-packed attraction you don’t want to miss. There are toddler, junior, bigger kids and adult-only sessions. Purchase tickets at thebigbounceamerica. com
Carolina Classic Fair @ 2825 University Parkway (W-S) 11 a.m.
The Carolina Classic Fair is back in town for its 142nd year! There will be plenty of fun rides, all the fair food you can eat, live entertainment, exhibits, livestock shows and more. Purchase tickets at carolinaclassicfair.com
Rooted and Grounded @ The Gallery at Stimmel (W-S) 6 p.m.
Artfolios is hosting a trunk show with artists Bryn Lenkaitis and True Whiting. Artfolios connects the Triad of North Carolina to a curated collection of WinstonSalem area artists through an online fine art gallery, consultations with patrons, corporate art installations, and in person events featuring Artfolios’ artists. Visit artfolios.shop for more information.
5
Scan the QR code to find more events at triad-citybeat.com/local-events
SATURDAY
Westerwood Art & Sole Art Walk and Studio Tour @ Westerwood
Neighborhood (GSO) 10 a.m.
The Westerwood neighborhood art walk is back after a 5-year pandemic hiatus and is excited to announce a record 31 artists this year. Take a look at artist studios in the area and view paintings, woodworking and other pieces available for purchase directly from the artists. Find more information at westerwoodneighborhood. com/art-sole
Goofy Foot Fall Festival @ Goofy Foot Taproom (HP) 2 p.m.
Stop by Goofy Foot Taproom for the fall festival and to celebrate the release of their Pumpkin Ale and their Get Barreled Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout Vol. 2. Enjoy cold
CITY LIFE
beer, Barberitos and Sweet Dough food tents and live music from Turpentine Shine & the Megan Doss Trio. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.
Men Can Cook @ Piedmont Hall (GSO)
5:30 p.m.
Join the Women’s Resource Center for this year’s Men Can Cook event, where local men who are famous in their own kitchens share their creations at a tasting event. There will also be live entertainment, a photo booth, a silent auction and a tasting room with small-batch, handcrafted wines, beers, ciders, meads and distilled spirits from award-winning Triad-area producers. Get tickets at womenscentergso.org/men-can-cook
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SUNDAY
High Point Autumn Rowing Festival @ Oak Hollow Festival Park (HP) 8:30 a.m.
Bethany Medical presents the High Point Autumn Rowing Festival. Grab a coffee, beer, wine or Champagne and watch historic boat racing between the world’s top teams. Free and open to the public. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.
“It is more important now than ever to support NCCJ, which has never strayed from its purpose of creating space for open and respectful dialogue between people of different backgrounds.” — event chairs Sue and Gary Simmons
OCT. 6 - 10
Rock ‘n Roll Band @ Hanes Auditorium, Salem Academy & College (W-S) 3 p.m.
Salem Bandinvites you to their annual fall concert, Rock ‘n Roll Band. Featuring music from your favorite ’70s and ’80s bands including Queen, the Eagles and the Rolling Stones, this free, rocking concert is a must-see. Visit salemband.org for more information.
Community Table 2024 @ Cadillac Service Garage (GSO) 4:30 p.m.
Triad Local First is excited to announce its 14th annual fundraising gala complete with cocktails and a multicourse, locally-sourced dinner. This year’s theme is The Great Gatsby, so put on your best Roaring Twenties attire and dance to the sounds of Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman. Purchase tickets at triadlocalfirst. org
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TUESDAY
Community Gallery Show @ GreenHill Center for North Carolina Art (GSO) 12 p.m.
GreenHill is partnering with the North Carolina African Services Coalition to display works by African and
refugee artists made through workshops in ArtQuest. On display until Nov. 2. Visit greenhillnc.org/events for more information.
THURSDAY
Cozy Crafts and Craft Brews @ Paddled South Brewing Co. (HP) 6 p.m.
Join Heart Shine Studios in creating the perfect paintedpumpkin fall decor. Admission includes all materials and guided instruction from Heart Shine Studios. Reserve your space at heartshinestudios.com
HONORING WHEN JOIN US IN-PERSON OR VIRTUALLY (YOUR CHOICE!)
Ellen “Lennie” W. Gerber & Dr. Henry “Hank” W.B. Smith, III
Wednesday, November 6th
5:30pm Reception | 6:30pm Dinner & Program
In-person guests will gather in the Guilford Ballroom at Koury Convention Center in Greensboro.
For virtual guests, we’ll send you the information you need to tune in for the livestream from 7-8:30pm. Each virtual guest in the Triad area will also receive a takeout meal from Green Valley Grill in Greensboro, for the night of the event.
QUESTIONS?
Contact Alison Whitman Jones at ajones@nccjtriad.org or (336)
NCCJ Board of Directors: FY 2024-25
OPINION
EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK
In times of crisis, check your sources
by Sayaka Matsuoka
As wewatched the devastation of Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina over the weekend, I couldn’t help but feel another wave of tension in my stomach. I felt for the victims — the countless who lost their homes and the dozens who have lost their lives — but I was also wary about another disaster waiting to hit, the kind of the virtual variety.
In the aftermath of disasters, whether natural or unnatural, there is a surge of mis- and disinformation that takes over the internet.
Over the weekend, dozens of images from the hurricane came across social media. Most of them were accurate and authentic, depicting the impact of the storm in real time. But a few, like ones shared here, here, here and here, were not.
In times of crisis, inaccurate data can be shared, too. Everything from the death toll to what resources are available can get murky. And then there’s real
disinformation, spread from bad actors like former President Trump who made multiple false claims about response efforts.
So I’m urging everyone, especially in the hours and days after a disaster strikes, to check your sources. Don’t share anything you see on social media unless you know it’s from a trusted source. Follow your local news organizations that are on the ground, doing the work in the area.
I’ve personally been following updates from Blue Ridge Public Radio, the Asheville Citizen-Times and the Assembly And if you see an image you think could be suspicious, throw it into TinEye’s reverse image search tool. It’ll show you when the image was first shared on the internet. And keep a lookout for AIgenerated images, too. You can also stay current on mis- or disinformation that’s been fact checked in the last few days here
In times of crisis it’s easy to get lost in the excess of content that is shared online, but it’s on all of us to practice good media literacy, especially when people’s lives are on the line.
OF COUNSEL
Jonathan Jones
EDITORIAL
MANAGING EDITOR
Sayaka Matsuoka
sayaka@triad-city-beat.com
CITYBEAT REPORTER
Gale Melcher
gale@triad-city-beat.com
Chris Rudd chris@triad-city-beat.com AD MANAGER
Heather Schutz
heather@triad-city-beat.com
TCBTIX
Nathaniel Thomas nathaniel@triad-city-beat.com
Carolyn de Berry, John Cole, Owens Daniels, James Douglas, Michelle Everette, Luis H. Garay, Destiniee Jaram, Kaitlynn Havens, Jordan Howse, Matt Jones, Autumn Karen, Michaela Ratliff, Jen Sorensen, Todd Turner
Sam LeBlanc
Aiden Siobhan aiden@triad-city-beat.com
Sheet was the best of Greensboro.
Photo by Carolyn de Berry Design by Aiden Siobhan
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NEWS
Our 2024 Election Guide comes on Oct. 17. We will have information for all candidates from president down to local school board. The guide will also be available on our website at triad-city-beat.com.
Elections 101
The Triad’s election directors answer our questions about the voting process
by Gale Melcher | gale@triad-city-beat.com
n Sept. 30, TCB sat down with Charlie Collicutt and Tim Tsujii, the elections directors for Guilford and Forsyth counties, to talk about the elections process and get into the nitty gritty details.
Early voting begins on Oct. 17 and ends on Nov. 2. Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. on Election Day — Nov. 5 and “If voters are in line at the time of closing, they still get to vote,” Tsujii noted. For more information, visit ncsbe.gov
QElection season is an incredibly hectic time for you. But what do you do for the rest of the year?
A“The father-in-law question,” Collicutt chuckled. “The vast majority of what we do is manage the staff that does data entry on voter registration changes. It’s only when we get near election season do we do all these other things that everybody pays attention to. Maintain the voting systems, poll workers and all that.”
Tsujii explained that on a daily basis, they get anywhere from 100 or more new registration records that need to be filed into the system. “I usually use the analogy of the Olympics,” he explained. “It takes four years to get the Olympic games ready and put together. They have to get all the volunteers, they have to find all the facilities, they have to do the logistics and paperwork that’s involved. With the Board of Elections Office, we’re no different…. The only difference is we don’t do it every four years, we actually have elections every year. So that prep work is on an annual basis.”
QPoll worker recruitment efforts are crucial, too, Collicutt added. “For this election, we’ll probably use somewhere in the range of 2,000 people just for early voting and Election Day. That is recruitment and retention and training”
Q A
What are the ways people can vote this year?
“Absentee by mail voting, in-person early voting and then voting in-person on Election Day,” said Tsujii. “With early voting, each county gets to select and determine how many sites they want to have open their 17-day early voting window. Voters are allowed to go to any of the early voting locations to cast their ballot, whereas on Election Day voters are required to vote at their designated precincts.”
There’s more convenience that’s offered in in-person early voting compared to Election Day where voters have a 13-hour window to cast their ballots, Tsujii explained. “The vast majority of voters now are casting ballots before Election Day,” Collicutt noted.
Can you explain NC’s voter photo ID requirement?
AThere are four requirements that the poll workers are going to be checking for when they’re verifying your photo ID according to Collicutt:
• What’s the expiration date? There are exceptions for people whose photo IDs expire after they turn 65, and if a voter’s photo ID has only been expired for a year or less.
• Is it an acceptable form of ID? This can be an NC driver’s license, a passport or any other form of ID outlined by the new law. Certain student and military IDS are accepted as well. The local county boards of elections also offer a free voter ID. “Anybody, as long as you’re a registered voter, can request to get that free voter ID. Our office is open Monday through Friday 8-5,” said Tsujii.
• Does the picture reasonably resemble the person standing in front of them? “Notice I didn’t use the word perfect resemblance,” he added.
• Is the name substantially equivalent to the name in the voter registration? The address on the ID also doesn’t have to match what’s on the voter registration. One thing to note is that voters who want to register during early voting, must also show proof of residency whether it’s a driver’s license or a bill with their current address. This is in addition to the voter ID requirement.
L-R: Tim Tsujii of Forsyth County and Charlie Collicutt of Guilford County talk about the election process during an event on Sept. 30,
PHOTO BY BRIAN CLAREY
Can voters use an out of state ID?
“Yes, as long as the voter registered within 90 days from Election Day,” said Tsujii. But if you’ve been here longer than 90 days, you need to have gotten an NC one, added Collicutt.
After Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. dropped out of the race, the NC Supreme Court ordered a reprint of ballots. What’s the new timeline for absentee ballots being sent out?
“Though we’re back on track, it was a lot to do in a more compressed schedule,” said Collicutt. “The people that were really early requesters, they’re delayed about 17 days.” They take requests all the way up to Oct. 29.
“I wouldn’t wait that long,” Collicutt added. Ballots have to make it back to their office by Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m., whether it’s by mail or being handed in directly.
Any other changes compared to past elections?
You will notice a major change if you voted with an absentee ballot in 2020, Collicutt said. Now voters need two people to witness putting that ballot back in the envelope, rather than one. Absentee voters also have to provide a photocopy of one of the acceptable forms of ID, noted Tsujii. There’s an exception form you can fill out if your ID has been lost or stolen.
Is voter fraud an issue in Guilford and Forsyth counties?
“Tim and I have been doing this for a long time and I have not encountered in-person fraud,” Collicutt said. “I’m not saying that it doesn’t exist. What I’m saying is in the years that I’ve done it, I’ve not seen a poll worker ever report back to me, ‘Let me tell you about this funny thing that happened.’”
“In Forsyth County, we did have one,” Tsujii noted. “In 2022, prior to the voter ID requirement being implemented, a voter attempted to impersonate his son in casting an early voting ballot…We had that situation occur even before voter ID was implemented, so there’s plenty of safeguards that were already in place.”
“You’ve always had to say your name and address out loud in a roomful of people,” said Collicutt. Tsujii added, “The voter ID requirement only helps and enhances the safeguards that we have to protect our elections.”
Western NC has been devastated by Hurricane Helene. How might elections be affected there?
“We’ve already been affected because of the hurricane,” Tsujii said. “There’s a local post office in Belews Creek that had to close. Just imagine the other local post offices on the western part of the state; if any of our voters are out that way and are planning to cast an absentee ballot, that might potentially affect them.”
When do you actually start counting ballots?
In NC, county boards of elections can go ahead and preprocess absentee ballots that they receive, Tsujii said, adding that in some other states, they’re not allowed to process ballots until Election Day.
Results from absentee-by-mail ballots should be posted online around “7:31-ish” p.m. on Election Day, said Collicutt. Early voting results will be uploaded “closer to 8:30.” For votes cast on Election Day, results from those precincts have to be transported to each election’s office and might go up a bit past 8:30, others closer to 10 or 10:30 p.m.. “You’ve got precincts out in rural regions of your county,” Tsujii said. “It takes them longer to get to downtown Winston-Salem.”
How has your job changed over the last couple of years as elections have come under more scrutiny?
“I think now I spend more time in my day talking to individual citizens about things that maybe are relevant to other states, other pieces of equipment that we don’t have or processes that they don’t quite understand,” Collicutt said. Sometimes people “don’t understand the process and are accusing us of wrongdoing; purposely or accidental in how we’re going to do our jobs,” he added.
It’s a lot of work against “mis, dis and malinformation,” said Tsujii, adding that with the prominence of social media and the 24/7 news cycle, their role now includes putting out as much information as they can to “debunk or even prebunk” some of that incorrect information.
Tsujii said, “I feel like we’ve taken on more of a public relations role than focusing on elections.” He said that his office uses social media to help get the word out, and keep the website up to date with information that is easily accessible to voters.
When angry people accuse precinct officials of nefarious behavior, Collicutt wants to remind them that those workers are often “grandmas.”
“These are your neighbors,” Collicutt said. Tsujii agreed.
“Especially at the precinct level, a lot of the poll workers are neighbors and friends of the voters that are coming in,” he said.
What do you debunk the most about elections?
Election security, ballot security, how ballots are counted, Tsujii said. The voting equipment is tested before the election and they do a recount of two randomly selected precedents after the election, so there’s pre-election and post-election testing. While people may have concerns about election fraud, Collicutt and Tsujii welcome people to volunteer or work as poll staff to see what’s really going on.
“That’s truly the best way to see first-hand the inner workings of an election and the voting process,” said Tsujii.
“People think that we and poll workers have much more power and abilities to do things than we really do,” Collicutt added.
QA Q A Q A Q A Q A Q A
Imagine you’re king for a day and change whatever you want. What would you alter about elections?
People want flexibility, Collicutt said. For him, making early voting sites available through Election Day would make things easier for voters.
“I would love to have places where anybody can just go,” he said. Sometimes people will show up to early voting sites on Election Day anyway, so why not just keep the continuity? “It extends that level of convenience into Election Day,” Tsujii agreed. Collicutt also said that due to some people being isolated, he would change the rules about the number of witnesses voters have to have when voting by mail.
QWhat is your favorite part of your job?
AQ A Q A Q A
“I don’t think any two days are alike, there’s always something new and different that comes up in our work on a daily basis,” Tsujii said. “That adds to the excitement and energy.”
“Our stress level goes up to an 11 for sure for a big chunk of the year,” Collicutt added. “But then it drops down really low and it’s kind of nice. We have these opportunities to focus on professional development or take vacation or be with our families. It makes those times when we’re not that busy a lot better.”
NEWS
The cost of housing has gone up more than 100 percent in the last decade. In the Triad, local programs are helping families with down payments.
by Gale Melcher | gale@triad-city-beat.com
For many Americans, the prospect of buying a home can seem insurmountable. According to a 2023 article by the Urban Institute, home prices rose by 114 percent between September 2010 and September 2023 while wages only rose by 50 percent.
“In 2010, $10,400 would have covered a 5 percent down payment on the median home purchase, whereas now, a borrower would need $22,240 for the same 5 percent down payment,” the article states.
But in the Triad, a variety of programs are working to help those looking to buy homes. One of the ways in which this is done is through down payment assistance programs.
As of 2023, there were more than 1,670 active down payment assistance programs in the country. According to the Urban Institute, 45 percent of these programs are only available to families that make less than 80 percent of the area median income, or AMI, which measures the midpoint of an area’s income distribution. Forsyth County’s AMI is $81,900, meaning that families would need to make $65,520 or less annually in order to qualify.
During the pandemic, the federal government gave local governments in NC more than $8 billion in relief funding and $1.9 trillion nationwide through the American Rescue Plan Act. Among that funding was $110,000 allocated to Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County, which is giving 11 families the chance to put $10,000 toward a down
payment on a home.
Originally, the deadline for money to be obligated was at the end of this year. But according to county officials, the money can’t be given to families until there are homes for them to spend it on.
During a Sept. 26 Forsyth County Commission briefing, Bailey Arnold, the county’s ARPA administrator, explained that delays in home construction meant that while seven families had received assistance, $40,000 still remained unspent.
Now, Forsyth County will be giving Habitat Forsyth an extension until Dec. 31, 2025 to spend the remaining $40,000 on the remaining four families once the homes are built. This extension will be officially approved when county commissioners meet again on Oct. 3.
“These funds are helping make homeownership more accessible for families… significantly reducing the financial burden of purchasing a home,” Habitat Forsyth’s Chief Programs Officer Paola Candelaria told TCB via email.
“This support ensures that mortgages remain affordable and sustainable for hardworking families, allowing them to achieve the dream of homeownership and build long-term stability,” Candelaria wrote.
Why they’re important
Twenty-five percent of NC residents are “cost-burdened” by housing — meaning that they are spending more than 30 percent or more of their income on their housing. Another 12 percent are severely cost-burdened, spending 50 percent or more on housing. A financial boost can help give people a bit of breathing room.
ARPA funding has helped fund dozens of down payment assistance programs across the country, and Vice President Kamala Harris has proposed giving first-time homebuyers $25,000 in down payment support as part of her presidential campaign. This program would provide support to working families who have paid rent on time for the past two years and benefit more than 4 million first-time homebuyers over the course of four years, according to Harris’s campaign.
Forsyth County also offers help to first-time homebuyers who make 80 percent AMI or less by offering programs with different loan options such as a second mortgage or a zero percent deferred repayment loan.
Neighboring local governments in the Triad also offer this type of assistance to prospective homebuyers.
Winston-Salem
The city has partnered with Financial Pathways of the Piedmont’s Center for Homeownership to offer residents homebuyer counseling and other services. They also offer financial assistance for housing development and rehabilitation projects. The city recently allocated ARPA dollars to Habitat Forsyth so they could build houses in the city’s Happy Hill neighborhood.
Guilford County
This neighboring county offers low-to-moderate income homebuyers a $10,000 loan at zero percent interest; a loan that is forgiven once the family has lived in the home after five years have passed. The home has to be in Guilford County, but outside the city limits of Greensboro and High Point. If you haven’t owned a home within the last three years, you’re qualified to apply. Funding for this program comes from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the funding period runs from July 1-June 30 each year. The county allocates this money to homebuyers until it’s depleted.
Greensboro
The city’s homebuyer assistance program offers up to $15,000 toward a home to people who make 80 percent or less of the area median income, or AMI, plus a $5,000 bonus if the purchased home is in an area designated for reinvestment or redevelopment. Greensboro’s AMI is $80,700, so the prospective homebuyer would need to make $64,560 annually or less. The home has to be located within city limits, and you have to be a first-time homebuyer or have not owned a home for the last three years in order to qualify for this program.
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DJs at the Polls looks to liven up the voting process by playing music at local polling sites on Election Day
by Sayaka Matsuoka | sayaka@triad-city-beat.com
When Scotty Brooks ran for Oxford City Commissioner last year, he realized how lonely the voting process could be. As a candidate, he campaigned at different polling stations, much of them quiet.
“I know it can be very boring,” said Brooks, who lost his election by one vote. “It would have been great to have some music.”
Now, Brooks is working for a national organization that is helping spread joy during the election season. DJs at the Polls, which started in 2008 in Philadelphia, is currently hiring DJs across the country to work at polling sites on Election Day. The goal? Just to make voting more fun.
“It’s cultural organizing at its best,” said April Parker, North Carolina’s project manager. “We see the DJs as cultural organizers, poll protectors.”
As a nonpartisan organization, the DJs don’t try to convince voters to cast their ballots for any particular candidate. Instead, it’s about engaging people and making the voting experience more enjoyable and to increase turnout overall.
“More votes is more democracy and that’s something to celebrate,” Parker said.
This Friday, the organization will set up at Dudley High School from 12:30 to 2 p.m., doing voter registration and teaching students DJ skills.
Ena Valiente, or DJ Ena Pop, will DJ for the organization for the first time this year. On Election Day, which falls on Nov. 5, Ena Pop will be set up at a polling place in Greensboro, spinning tunes for hours.
“Music always lightens the mood,” Valiente said. “Some people might be by themselves or bored. Music will just encourage the situation more.”
Valiente, who has been a DJ for almost 20 years, likes to play a little bit of everything in her sets. As a Cuban American, she grew up listening to funk and hip hop with her parents.
“I like to surprise people,” she said.
For her, the inclusion of music in public spaces is something that calls back to her childhood days in Miami.
“When I was younger, in neighborhoods I used to live in, people would come set up speakers and play music,” she said.
When she moved to Greensboro years ago, she did the same thing in her neighborhood near Douglas Park. She sees DJs at the Polls as an opportunity to bring back that same kind of block-party vibe, but attuned to an American tradition.
“I like to give back,” she said. “It keeps me attached to my roots.”
Brooks, who performs under the name DJ Scotty Rock, is working as a recruiter this year. That means he’s reaching out to DJs across the state to get them involved. So far, they’ve received more than 600 applications, he said.
“It looks like we’ll probably have more than we need,” he said.
Learn more about DJs at the Polls at djsatthepolls. org. The event at Dudley High School takes place on Friday, Oct. 4 from 12:30-2 p.m.
This is Brooks’s second year working with the organization. Last year, he played music at a pilot program in Raleigh.
“I had 100 percent positive feedback,” he said.
And that’s because the presence of music lightens the atmosphere and makes voting fun, Brooks said.
“If people are excited about something they’ll do it,” he said. “If it’s fun and they’re
excited, they’ll continue to do it.”
Valiente said she hopes more DJs get involved with the organization. Despite the fact that they’re working on Election Day, she said it doesn’t necessarily have to be about politics.
“They don’t need to worry about a political party,” Valiente said. “It’s just about encouraging people to get involved.”
Brooks, who will also be set up at a polling station on Election Day, said that hopefully the sounds of the music will entice people to get curious about voting.
“Even if you’re just walking by, it will probably prompt you to stop and say, ‘Oh, I can vote here?’ Let me vote,’” he said.
NC DJs at the Polls project manager April Parker poses with DJ Ena Pop. COURTESY PHOTO
Jen Sorensen
The RFK Jr. candidacy a dangerous whim
by Brian Clarey
About a year ago, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the leathery scion of one of this nation’s greatest political legacies, filed to run for president. It made sense: His uncle, John F. Kennedy, was one of the most popular presidents of the last century, serving until he was assassinated in 1963. And his father, Robert F. Kennedy Sr., was one of the most popular US attorney generals of the last century and a strong contender for president himself, until he was assassinated in 1968. His other uncle, Ted Kennedy, who also ran several times for president, was one of the most powerful members of the US Senate until he died in 2009 — a brain tumor, not a bullet.
The Kennedys are as close to royalty we have in this country, and so RFK was just doing what came naturally when he filed to run for president, though he went about it rather differently than his father and uncles did.
the Donald Trump campaign and began suing swing states to get himself off the ballot.
It matters because North Carolina is one of those swing states where RFK Jr. was successful in his play, first to get on the ballot and then to get off. He lost his initial lawsuit against the NC Board of Elections seeking to be removed from the race, lost an appeal and was then granted his wish by the NC Supreme Court on the shakiest of grounds. This action caused an illegal delay in NC absentee voting deadlines as new ballots had to be printed. That also cost money.
RFK Jr.’s ploy could cost an extra $1 million to NC taxpayers.
Forsyth County Elections Director Tim Tsuji estimates that the reprint cost the county about $20,000 — $16,000 for the reprint and another $4,000 or so in overtime pay for the workers who had to make it happen. They had to work on Labor Day to get it done, Tsuji added. And Forsyth used a printon-demand model for absentee ballots, making them in-house as they’re requested, which saved thousands.
Courtesy of NC Policy Watch
For one, RFK Jr. has never held elected office. And he chose to run for president not as a Democrat, which was a point of pride for his familiar predecessors, but as the faceman for a new political party which, Carolina Forward points out, is a fair sight quicker and easier than working your way up through the ranks of political office or the New York real estate market. And he — or more accurately, his backers — threw some money at it, getting enough signatures to land himself on the presidential ballot in about half of US states… until he dropped out of the race entirely on Aug. 23, threw himself behind
It may not sound like a lot, but remember there are 100 counties in NC, not all of which print on demand. WRAL estimates RFK Jr.’s ploy will cost an extra $1 million to NC taxpayers.
“That’s extra dollars, right?” Tsuji says. “I’ll certainly put in a request to the county commissioners to offset that cost.”
RFK Jr. remains on the ballot in 33 states, including swing states Michigan and Wisconsin. But here in NC, where Trump won in 2016 by fewer than 175,000 votes and in 2020 by fewer than 75,000, it could be enough to turn the tide. And we get the sense that RFK Jr. cares about as much about this as he did about running for president in the first place, a quest he abandoned after about a year.
PBS NC inspires viewers with a new season of intimate conversations in ‘Side by Side’
The deep burgundy chairs that line the audience of the Pauline Theater in Hayworth Fine Arts Center at High Point University create an empty backdrop; a contrast to the intimate setting unfolding on its stage underneath an imperial purple light that casts a glow on the back wall. The stage is set with two unassuming chairs, a table between them, atop a congenial rug. Dr Nido Qubein, the university’s President sits in one chair, both curious and encouraging. In the other chair sits one of 26 guests who have been invited by PBS North Carolina to share their stories of perseverance and success. Filming of the fourth season of “Side by Side with Nico Qubein,” has begun.
“Side by Side with Nido Qubein” is a weekly PBS NC interview show that features in-depth and informative conversations between Nido Qubein and a wide variety of successful and influential guests, often with connection to North Carolina.
“The purpose of the show,” Qubein says , “is to inform, inspire and increase the capacity of the viewer in terms of learning. We want to create impact wherever we can in a meaningful and purposeful way.”
Qubein’s own quest for information began at a young age. He emigrated as a young man from the Middle East to North Carolina in 1966 to further his education. After completing a Masters degree in business, founding numerous successful enterprises, authoring 15 leadership and communication books and becoming the seventh president of his alma mater, High Point University, his most fulfilling venture is sharing knowledge and success with others.
“We all should be making the world in which we reside a better place,” Qubein says. “If we have the capacity to do that, that’s more reason we should step in and do it.”
Before each “Side by Side” interview, Qubein reads a page or two of bullet points about the individual he will be speaking with. To begin the interview, he presents his guests with a question relating to the framework of information he’s read. The rest of each 25 minute conversation is completely impromptu.
It’s a method that Director and Producer Will Mikes finds both mesmerizingly organic and also terrifying.
“You see this genuine curiosity from him,” Mikes says of Qubein. “He doesn’t have a script in his hand or use preset questions. He’s truly interested in the person.”
As far as directing a show without a script goes, “This show absolutely would not work with someone who wanted to make it about themselves — he really wants to learn about each guest.”
“Side by Side with Dr. Nido Qubein” airs Tuesdays at 7PM on PBS NC and episodes are streaming online and on the free PBS app
“Because of how he talks to the camera when he’s addressing the audience, and because of how he talks to the folks who are on set sitting next to him,” Mikes says of Qubein, “the viewer at home feels a connection.
When they see that Side by Side is coming on, they know that the person being interviewed is someone Dr Qubein finds interesting. They’re going to find them interesting, too.”
Qubein regularly has subjects on the show whose friends and family admit to not knowing much of the information that comes out in their conversations.
“That’s the kind of thing we want to do,” Qubein laughs. “We want to go beyond the common knowledge about a subject and dig in a little deeper. To take the viewer around the corner to see what’s there that they maybe haven’t thought about.”
Previous seasons of “Side by Side with Nido Qubein” have showcased guests such as Apple Cofounder Steve Wozniak, retired men’s basketball coach Roy Williams, and actor and producer Dean Cain.
“What viewers really love is that we have a variety of guests that can talk about a variety of things that are of interest to as wide of an audience as possible,” Qubein says.
In the newest season, Mikes explains, audiences can expect a deeper dive into powerful stories of perseverance, a dive powered by Qubein’s innate ability to be curious.
Side by Side with Nido Qubein, A PBS NC Original Production https://www.pbsnc.org/watch/side-by-side-nido-qubein/
CULTURE
A requiem for Matty Sheets 1976-2024
by Brian Clarey | brian@triad-city-beat.com
Iwas too late to catch Matty Sheets before he left us for good.
He had just been transferred to hospice care after a truly unfortunate series of events. First there was the MS diagnosis, which happened years ago, late in 2016. It robbed him of some of his vitality and independence, slowed him down more than he liked. But he rolled with it, telling journalist Eddie Hiuffman about a year later, “[I]t’s a neurological disease, but it’s not as bad as being in love. It’s manageable.”
Matty knew from love.
Earlier this month, hospitalized with what he believed to be complications from MS, doctors found Stage IV cancer that had spread all over his body — no recourse, no cure. Basically a death sentence. Emblematic of his relentless positivity, he opted for surgery, thinking it might buy him some time or offer some relief. That’s not what happened.
Matty knew from plans gone wrong, too.
Within a couple weeks he was near the end, first in the hospital and then in a private room on Summit Avenue where, surrounded by friends, he finally accepted his fate.
All of us who knew him already know all this stuff. We’ve been lamenting and celebrating for days on Facebook, swapping stories and sharing YouTubes, all of us remembering how we met this skinny goofball who had more love for the Greensboro music scene then anyone, ever.
I’m not writing this for them. They all know how special he was, and shy. I’m writing this for the rest of you, who might not have known.
Every local music scene needs a guy like Matty. Talented, sure, and an unabashed
booster even during those years when that kind of enthusiasm seemed incredibly uncool. Matty never worried about cool, though he was, in fact, cool. He played in too many bands to remember in the years since I met him, shortly after I moved here in 2000. That’s when he and his buddy Mikey Roohan worked at the old Pie Works on Lawndale, just a couple doors down from my mother-in-law’s health food store, where my wife was working. They may have been my first Greensboro friends here. They started a band right around that time, Deviled Eggs, which in its first incarnation was… not for everybody. My editor at the time described them as “terrible” when I pitched them for a music feature. They got better.
Matty’s music was wonderful. Through sheer persistence and positivity he became a seasoned songwriter, crafting sparse pieces about love gone wrong, life gone wrong, and how it was all going to be okay anyway. For more than 20 years he lived a troubadour’s life: starting bands, writing songs, playing gigs. He must have played a thousand of them before he was through. He always knew the bartender’s name. And wherever he was, he was just so fucking happy to be there.
He’s all over the Triad City Beat archives, in stories about his gigs and references to his career, which was intensely and purposefully local in scope: his 40th birthday at a Ben Singer show at NY Pizza; the night he, Singer and Sam Frazier played one of Singer’s original movie scores for a Chaplin film at the Green Bean; a rare WinstonSalem performance at the Garage with a slew of folk acts where, our music writer, Jordan Green, noted, “He delivered songs about a house haunted by a suicide, bridge jumpers and eyeballs that resemble guns in earnest folk vocals barbed with a sardonic
Every local music scene needs a guy like Matty.
PHOTO BY CAROLYN DE BERRY
edge, warbling from country blues to deadpan alt-rock.”
My favorite, penned by Jordan Green in 2014, took place at a Blockheads show at the old Blind Tiger. It was one of those nights where nobody showed, a crowd so small that Matty knew them all by name — all except one.
“Spotting a slender man with silver hair seated at a bar table near the back, he added, ‘And I’m sorry: I don’t know your name, sir.’
Emily Stewart, the banjo player, prompted him: ‘Allen.”
It was Allen Joines, the mayor of Winston-Salem.”
What did he know? Matty was a Greensboro guy.
One driving factor to his short, sweet life was the open-mic night he started hosting back at the Flat Iron, when the place was still a subterranean dive bar and you could smoke. He kept it going for 20 years, moving it from the Flat to NY Pizza to the Westerwood and the Green Bean, and then the Continental Club. Last year he hosted one at Folk Fest, a feather in his crooked cap and a formal acknowledgement of his role in the music scene of which he was such an integral part.
You won’t find a Greensboro musician from that era who didn’t know Matty Sheets. They played his open-mic and he learned their name. He encouraged them to start a band. They remembered something he said to them as they fought for years — like he did — to get their flowers. They asked him to sit in, or he showed up at one of their shows and cheered louder than anyone else in the room.
All of us on the cultural fringe in Greensboro knew Matty Sheets, and we all knew he loved us. He wore his love for us all like he wore his glasses: right there on his face, impossible to deny.
It was love that drove Matty Sheets, as best I can tell — not for fame or money or even the music, which mattered to him very much. More than that, he loved the people who made it possible, even though he was the one who made it all possible.
He lived for us all and the things we created. In turn, he created much more than just a body of work, a string of bands, a small stack of recordings.
In so many ways, Matty was the embodiment of the city and its music scene, the connective tissue that kept it all coherent, the enthusiastic engine that pushed it forward.Those of us who know will feel his absence… forever… even as we tend his garden as best we can.
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Matty was the embodiment of the city and its music scene.
PHOTO BY CAROLYN DE BERRY
CULTURE
At the 19th Annual Bookmarks Festival, authors Stacey Abrams and Zaila Avant-garde speak on the ‘power of words’
by Gale Melcher | gale@triad-city-beat.com
The sun shone down on the dozens of excited faces that woke up bright and early on Sept. 28 to line up outside First Baptist Church on Fifth in downtown WinstonSalem. Readers filled the sanctuary, spilling into balcony seats, eager to hear from two highly anticipated guests with the 19th annual Bookmarks Festival: Stacey Abrams and Zaila Avantgarde.
Warm applause welcomed the two onstage where they chatted about their recent books in a conversation with Dr. Laura Gerald, a pediatrician and president of the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust.
One thing Abrams and Avant-garde have in common? They do a lot.
During the Bookmarks
this
PHOTO BY GALE MELCHER
In addition to being the author of more than a dozen books, Abrams is a lawyer and seasoned politician with a career in Georgia’s House of Representatives that spanned a decade, from 2007-17. She took on the role as the House minority leader from 2011-17 before running for governor in 2018 and 2022. Avant-garde, winner of the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee at just 14 years old, has also written several books. She’s a baller — both on and off the court. Yeah, she holds three Guinness World Records in basketball. Keeping all those balls in the air isn’t easy, but she still makes time for juggling, too, taking home silver at the International Jugglers’ Association 2020 championship in the Juniors Division.
While at different stages in their lives, Abrams, 50, and Avante-Garde, 17, both share a love of reading that resides deep within their childhood memories.
Abrams practically grew up in a library. Her mother was a librarian, and she remembers sleeping in the stacks. She was also inspired by her father, who has dyslexia and loved reading in spite of how difficult it was for him, Abrams recounted. For her father, the “joy of reading” overpowered the “struggle of reading.”
Avante-garde was poring over words before she could read them, becoming “reading obsessed” as a child. She’s seen and spelled a lot of words — learning about 12,000 words per day to prepare for the bee. Now she’s putting them on the page. Avant-garde hopes to help young readers “feel inspired to want to read more” with her new book, “Words Are Magic,” which is targeted toward young children learning how to read.
As neither comes from a publishing background, they touched on the difficulties of breaking into the industry. Avant-garde noted the multiple rounds of editing that books often have to go through. Abrams’ own family was integral to her editing process, enlisting her siblings’ children for feedback on the books.
“Little kids can be brutal,” joked Abrams. She’s written across multiple genres, from romance novels to thrillers, but crossing those bridges wasn’t easy, she said. But it’s also been worth it.
“I have been honored to write in different genres, but being able to write a children’s book is, for me, the highest honor,” Abrams said. “Kids are smart, and you can give them multiple messages as long as they weave together.”
Abrams has written multiple children’s books; her latest is called “Stacey Speaks Up.” The story is about school lunches — and what happens when kids can’t afford them.
“I wanted to tell a story that grapples with the fact that one in five children in our nation are hungry,” Abrams explained. “Our school systems are fulcrums for who we intend to be, and it’s a place where we ask adults to tell children they can’t eat.”
In the story, Stacey sees a student who can’t afford lunch being told to put his tray back.
“She doesn’t know what to do,” Abrams said. She said this story is about “confronting how you feel when you feel powerless, confronting how you feel when you feel embarrassed that you didn’t do more.” Her book aims to “help children channel those emotions into actions.”
“Empathy is how we feel, advocacy is what we do about it,” she said. When those two things come together, “magic happens.”
Abrams explained that she loves being able to tell a wholesome story that “meets the child” where they are. “Not truncate them, but condense them.That, to me, is a testament to good writing,” she added.
She emphasized that really honing in on the essence of a story is even more important when writing for younger audiences.
“My writing process is to find the theme, the value and the story, and refine it as much as possible so I can tell the deepest and densest story with the fewest number of words,” she explained.
Gerald mused that both authors’ books speak to the “power of words;” she asked Abrams and Avant-garde what that means to them.
“Words are what the world is built off of,” Avant-garde said. Words are powerful forms of expression; the way they’re said or the context they’re used in can “completely change a situation.”
Abrams agreed, adding that in addition to being a form of expression, words are “also how you invite people into your world.”
Speaking up and using those magical words is so important, especially with so much going on in the country right now, she expressed.
“Those who are willing to be wrong are often loud about it,” Abrams said. “They are loud and wrong, and we are quiet and right. I need us to be loud and right.”
Festival
year, authors Stacey Abrams and Zaila Avant-garde talked about the power of storytelling.
SHOT IN THE TRIAD
BY CAROLYN DE BERRY
North Eugene Street, Greensboro
Scene from the 15th Annual Downtwon Greenway Run and Block Party.
by Matt Jones
PUZZLES & GAMES
Across
Down
CROSSWORD SUDOKU
by Matt Jones
1. Ludicrous comedy
6. Border
10. Crawled, maybe
14. Nebraska metropolis
15. Grammy winner Celine
16. Facebook company
17. They don’t play their own hits
19. Tricky
20. Outrage
21. Notable person
23. Itinerary word
24. Vietnamese soup sometimes served with tripe
25. Pro wrestling pair
27. Having no restrictions
32. Catty response?
33. Quite capable
34. Use a pen outside
36. Passing notice
39. Time to give up?
40. Oceanic movements
41. ___ helmet
42. Molten stuff
43. Beneficiary
44. Film idol Greta
45. Muppet that’s got beef with a rock
47. Plastic instrument in elementary
school music class
49. Manage
52. Faucet label
53. Spheroid
54. Appropriate for middle schoolers, maybe
57. Salt ___
60. Portuguese rivers
62. Personal transport that requires some balance
64. Fireplace grate stuff
65. Neck-and-neck
66. Triangular road sign
67. Head experts, for short
68. Pre-1991 pol. divisions
69. George Jetson’s kid
1. Centers of attention
2. Love, to Luis
3. Dance party
4. Jost’s cohost
5. Eavesdropping range
6. Dutch wheel
7. Get some grub
8. Beckett title character
9. Catches in a trap
10. Three letters of disbelief
11. Finch relative that can build an intricate nest
12. Spacious courtyards
13. ___ Vice President (current title for Kamala Harris)
18. Touch a dog’s snoot
22. Big-headedness
24. Motivating speech
26. Like some long season finales
27. Maze blocker
28. Notion
29. Wheel clamp for parking violators
30. Stephen Colbert’s wife and coauthor of the cookbook “Does This Taste Funny?”
31. Lowest point
35. ___ Noel (Santa Claus, in France)
37. “Who can ___ at this hour?”
38. “The Avengers” character
40. “Any opinions?”
44. Parting word
46. Clear the floor
48. “Moonstruck” Oscar winner
49. Not as great
50. Giant hunter of myth
51. Un + deux
55. Affirm positively
56. “Bill & ___ Excellent Adventure”
57. “The Beverly Hillbillies” star Max
58. Folk singer Guthrie
59. “Electric Avenue” singer Grant
61. Hagiographer’s subjects, for short
63. Coconut product
Thu 10/03
Concert for Community and Action:
Bene�t Bash
@ 6pm
Come on out to the Double Oaks for a night of music, drinks, and community action as we support our lo‐cal grassroots progressives: Down Home North Car‐olina, Siembra NC, and the Carolina Federation. 204 N Mendenhall St, 204 North Mendenhall Street, Greensboro. gbrlparrish@gmail.com, 336-509-7140
Night Cap
@ 7pm
The Ramkat & Gas Hill Drinking Room, 170 W 9th St, Winston-Salem
houndmouth: Winston-Salem, NC
@ 7:30pm
The Ramkat & Gas Hill Drinking Room, 170 W 9th St, Winston-Salem
Fri 10/04
Bocanegra
@ 7pm
Hoots Beer Co., 840 Mill Works St, Winston-Salem
The Kind Thieves and Lucid Evolution
@ 7pm
Flat Iron, 221 Summit Ave, Greensboro
CONJUNTO AMANECER
@ 8pm
MANSION Nightclub, 3081 Waughtown St, WinstonSalem
Sat 10/05
Singles-On-Segways
@ 9:30am / $89
Get ready to mingle and roll at Singles-On-Segways, where you can meet new people while cruising around on two wheels! 176 Ywca Way, WinstonSalem
Greensboro True Crime Tour
@ 5pm / $12
Explore the dark side of Greensboro's history with this guided tour sites related to Greensboro's history of crime Scuppernong Books, 304 S Elm St, Greens‐boro. andrew@nason.net, 206-914-9492
Sun 10/06
Mercy's Well
@ 10am
Brightwood Christian Church, 300 Brightwood Church Rd, Gibsonville
Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road
@ 7:30pm
Carolina Theatre, 310 S Greene St, Greensboro
Sunday Yoga @ SouthEnd Brewing Co.
@ 10am / $5 SouthEnd Brewing Co, 117b West Lewis Street, Greensboro
Mon 10/07
TCB Presents A Reverse Town Hall (Greensboro/Guilford Edition)! Putting Voters First @ 6pm
Come listen as voters from diverse backgrounds talk about the issues that are most important to them. Candi‐dates will be invited to listen and ask questions. Flat Iron, 221 Summit Av‐enue, Greensboro. sayaka@triad-citybeat.com
Tue 10/08
Western Sicily, Italy @ 6pm / $63.04 Reto's Kitchen, 600 South Elam, Greensboro
Candlelight: A Tribute to Coldplay @ 9:45pm / $35.31
Gerald Freedman Theater at Alex Ewing Performance Place, 585 Giannini Drive, Winston Salem. fever@ eventvesta.com
TCB Presents A Reverse Town Hall (Winston-Salem/ Forsyth Edition) Putting Voters First! @ 6pm
Come listen as voters from diverse backgrounds talk about the issues that are most important to them. Candi‐dates will be invited to listen and ask questions. The Ramkat, 170 West Ninth Street, Winston-Salem. sayaka‐@triad-city-beat.com
Wed 10/09
Western Sicily, Italy
@ 6pm / $63.04
Reto's Kitchen, 600 South Elam, Greensboro
EXILE TOUR 2024 - Demon Hunter, Im‐pending Doom, War Of Ages, Opponent @ 7pm
Hangar 1819, 1819 Spring Garden St, Greensboro
Thu 10/10
Tambacum: Afro-Colombian Musical Workshop and Performance @ 5pm
UNC Greensboro, 1400 Spring Garden St, Greens‐boro
Rain City Drive @ 7pm
Hangar 1819, 1819 Spring Garden St, Greensboro
The Kevin Daniel: Kevin Daniel & The Bottom Line x Incendiary Brewing Co. @ 7pm
Incendiary Brewing Company, 486 N Patterson Ave Ste 105, Winston-Salem
Jake Shimabukuro: The RamkatWinston-Salem, NC @ 8pm
The Ramkat & Gas Hill Drinking Room, 170 W 9th St, Winston-Salem
Fri 10/11
Endovascular Therapies: Management Strategies for Vascular Patients 2024 meeting
@ 7am / $75-$899
Oct 11th - Oct 13th
Endovascular Therapies: Management Strategies for
powered by
Vascular Patients is designed to provide an update of the most useful developments in endovascular ther‐apies Grandover Resort & Spa, A Wyndham Grand Hotel, 1000 Club Road, Greensboro. Julie@ wellassembled.com, 503-635-4761
Bedroom Division @ 7pm
Flat Iron, 221 Summit Ave, Greensboro
Sat 10/12
Singles-On-Segways
@ 9:30am / $89
Get ready to mingle and roll at Singles-On-Segways, where you can meet new people while cruising around on two wheels! 176 Ywca Way, WinstonSalem
Jay Benjamin @ 6pm
Grey's Tavern, 343 S Elm St, Greensboro
Sun 10/13
Billy Creason Band @ 2pm
Bullies Bar and Grill, 4695 S Main St, Winston-Salem conjunto azabache @ 8pm
ENIGMA GREENSBORO, 4927 W Market St STE 3000, Greensboro
Mon 10/14
Jay Benjamin: Indigenous Peoples' Day MondayMic @ 6pm
High Point Bistro, 3793 Samet Dr # 165, High Point Lucy Isabel @ 7pm House Concert, Winston-Salem
Tue 10/15
Paella @ 6pm / $63.04
Reto's Kitchen, 600 South Elam, Greensboro
Joy Clark @ 7:30pm
Flat Iron, 221 Summit Ave, Greensboro
Wed 10/16
Undeath @ 6:30pm
Hangar 1819, 1819 Spring Garden Street, Greens‐boro
That Mexican OT @ 8pm / $35-$37.50
Piedmont Hall, Greensboro
Calendar information is provided by event organiz‐ers. All events are subject to change or cancellation. This publication is not responsible for the accuracy of the information contained in this calendar. The best place to promote your events online and in print. Visit us @ https://triad-city-beat.com/local-events powered by
