TCB July 6, 2023 — Show Me the Money

BY GALE MELCHER & SAYAKA MATSUOKA | PG. 4

CITY LIFE

THURSDAY JULY 6

Eastern Music Festival @ Various Locations (GSO) 10:30 a.m.

The Eastern Music Festival is a classical music festival and summer educational program held at Guilford College, UNCG and other venues in the city. This performance at Hemphill Branch Library features a string quartet and is appropriate for all ages. Visit easternmusicfestival.org for a calendar of performances.

Bourbon Community

of NC Summer

Series @ The Katharine Brasserie & Bar (W-S) 6 p.m.

The Katharine is hosting a series of boozy events including tastings and virtual tours from top North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee distilleries, a silent auction, live music and more. Purchase tickets at exploretock. com/katharinebrasserie

FRIDAY JULY 7

Rosé Soirée @ The Blooming Board (HP) 6 p.m.

Put on your chicest outfit and head to the Bloom-

by MICHAELA RATLIFF

ing Board for a free soirée where you’ll taste a vast selection of rosé wines perfect for summertime. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

First Friday Art Park @ LeBauer Park (GSO) 6:30 p.m.

Join painters, potters and others from Art Alliance the first Friday of each month for demos and hands-on art projects. More info on the Facebook event page

SATURDAY JULY 8

JULY 6 - 9

‘Scoe live music and more. Purchase tickets at greensborobound.com

Twice as Nice @ Paddled South Brewing Co. (HP) 12 p.m.

Stop by Paddled for a two-year anniversary celebration where Richardson Street is closing down so Southerlands Cigars, My Kitchen Food Truck and other vendors can set up. Don’t miss the all-day drawings for free merchandise and the return of the Badass Mojito Wheat, a wheat beer with flavors of jalapeno peppers and mint. Follow Paddled on Facebook for updates.

SUNDAY JULY 9

Farmers Market @ Simon’s Community Gardens (W-S) 9 a.m.

Stop by Simon’s Community Gardens every second, fourth and fifth Saturday of each month for a farmers market with fresh produce, items made by local vendors and more. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

Downtown Greenway Community Picnic @ Downtown Greenway (GSO) 11 a.m.

Join Action Greensboro and Greensboro Parks and Recreation for the 2nd annual Downtown Greenway Community Picnic. Enjoy whole-hog smoked barbeque by NC-famous pitmaster Ed Mitchell, southern sides and dessert by ‘Cille and

Summer Blowout Sale @ Millennium Center (W-S) 9 a.m.

The Millennium Center is remodeling and needs your help cleaning out the building! There’s appliances, cooking equipment, banquet tables, beauty salon equipment and even more items up for grabs. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

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Summer is hot

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hen I was a kid, I spent many a summer night sleeping on the sliver of carpet that existed between my bed and the windows facing the backyard. I cracked them open just enough to allow a semblance of a breeze through.

WThe other day, my husband exclaimed that it was too hot in the house and clicked the thermostat — which was set to 77 — down to 70 degrees! A whole 7 points! Can you imagine?

by Sayaka Matsuoka

For many years, it was the only way I could sleep at night because it was so hot.

I slept on the second floor of our house and all of the hot air would inevitably rise and distribute itself across the rooms, suffocating my sister and me when we tried to sleep. So instead of staying in my bed, I would crawl onto the floor and will myself to slip into unconsciousness, or sometimes even sleep out in the hallway because it was approximately three degrees cooler.

My parents were stingy, so touching the thermostat (which I always would) was sacrilege. For a few years, they had a little note about the device that read, “DO NOT TOUCH.”

When I would complain that it was too hot to sleep, my parents always repeated one refrain: Natsu wa atsuinda!

Summer is hot.

Now that I have my own house, I freely adjust the thermostat to my liking so I can comfortably exist. But still, old habits die hard.

I immediately changed it back to 76 for fear that our A/C unit would implode from the shock of such a monumental ask.

My sister, who lives in Maryland now, is even more strict. She doesn’t even turn on her A/C.

Instead, she and her boyfriend, who is apparently as miserly as she is, rely on the little tufts of cold air that circulate through the apartment hallways to cool them down. They’ll crack their door a bit which allows a smidge of respite into their home. It’s absurd.

But that’s how so many of us have lived if you think about it.

There were summers that we spent in Japan in my old grandparents’ house, which didn’t have central A/C; many older homes still don’t. So families would sleep with barely a sheet covering their stomachs and a rotating standing fan in the doorway. It’s a reminder that the ease with which we can control our surroundings now in modern America is such a privilege, and fairly new.

So this summer, yes, I’ll turn down the thermostat if I can’t concentrate or if I really need to sleep. But in the meantime, I’ll break out the standing fan, set it on high and readjust the temperature when Sam sets it too low. Because old habits die hard.

My parents were stingy so touching the thermostat (which I always would) was sacrilege.

In the islands, it’s not really even gardening; it’s just life.

Hayley Figueroa, pg. 9

A look at 2023-24 budgets for the Triad

by Gale Melcher and Sayaka Matsuoka

It’s July, which means it is budget season for municipal governments. In the past couple of weeks, both Guilford County and Forsyth County have passed their proposed budgets for the 2023-24 fiscal year which will begin on July 1. Greensboro and Winston-Salem have also filed their budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. One significant change in this year’s budgets includes payouts to local municipalities from the recent national opioid settlement Here are some takeaways from each of the municipalities. Find the full budgets online.

GUILFORD COUNTY

• The General Fund Appropriation for 2023-24 is $840.2 million, which is a $57 million increase from last year

• The general property tax will remain the same at 73.05 cents per $100 of property valuation

• The budget allocates $333.9 million for Education (the largest segment of the budget) – an increase of $6.9 million over the total allocation in FY 2022-23. $262 million of that will go towards Guilford County Schools. $15.4 million will go towards raises for classified employees at Guilford County Schools. Another million will fund 10 new school nurse positions in the district.

• The second largest section of the budget is allocated towards the “Successful People” designation which includes fundings for behavioral health, and the county’s Health & Human Services department which will have a budget of $143.6 million. This includes funding to hire 10 school nurses to increase the total number of school nurses in the

county to 66 or 1 nurse for every 1.8 schools. The budget also includes fundings for a new mobile health clinic program. Additionally, the department aims to hire four social workers to make up a new community team that will care for people in non-emergency situations.

• The total funds allocated for law enforcement (the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office) will total $86.8 million, which marks an 8 percent increase compared to the 2022-23 year.

GREENSBORO

The adopted budget will be published at www.greensboro-nc.gov/budget in July.

• The General Fund Appropriation for 2023-24 is $403.9 million which is a $37 million increase from last year

• The minimum wage for city workers is increasing to $18 per hour and police officers will now be paid a starting salary of $55,000 beginning in September

• To help afford spending increases, the budget came with a property tax at a rate of 67.25 cents per $100 property valuation — four cents higher than the previous year. The tax rate is allocated as follows: 62.75 cents to the general fund, 3.5 cents to the transit fund, and 1 cent to the housing partnership fund.

• Water and sewer fees will increase. The proposed budget included a “water rate increase of 10.25 percent and a wastewater increase of 7.25 percent, or an 8.5 percent increase on average for inside and outside customers.”

• The police department’s budget hit $99.1 million, according to the city’s Assistant Budget Director Tiffany Jones. The previous year it was $91.2 million. This year, the city’s fire department has a budget of $71.2 million. The increase in the police budget includes $40,000 for the department’s Flock camera program. As of the 2022-23 fiscal year, funding has also been allocated towards the newly created Office of Community Safety — under public safety. This coming year, changes will be made to budget for one Violence Prevention Coordinator in the City Manager division; the transfer of one Behavioral Health Crisis Team Lead and seven Behavioral Crisis Counselors from the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion division; and the addition of one LEADS Case Coordinator; and the addition of one Community Outreach Coordinator.

• Greensboro Transit Agency has a budget of $31.5 million. A dedicated property tax rate of 3.5 cents goes toward providing transit services to residents. Also, the start time for all weekday fixed route services will change from 5:15 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. beginning July 3.

• Housing and Neighborhood Development totals $2.44 million

• Homelessness Prevention: $539,075. This budget allocates funding to support homelessness prevention activities such as emergency and transitional shelter, rapid re-housing and housing information and referral services for houseless people or those at risk of becoming houseless.

FORSYTH COUNTY

• The total budget proposed is $569 million for the 2023-24 fiscal year. This marks a $36.3 million increase, or 6.8 percent increase, compared to last year

• The proposed balanced budget maintains the current property tax rate of 67.78 cent per $100 of property value

• Like in Guilford County, the largest portion of the county budget is taken up by school funding which totals $181.2 million, or 31.8 percent. This reflects a 4.5 percent increase from last year. This includes budgeting for salary adjustments for classified staff, and increases related to school police officers.

• Funding for public safety will total $97.9 million and take up 17.2 percent of the budget. This includes the sheriff’s office ($69.6 million), emergency services ($26.1 million), the Family Justice Center (S407,935), the animal shelter ($1.3 million) and emergency management ($500,730). The funding reflects a $528,388 decrease to funding for the sheriff’s office compared to last year — Personal Services are increasing $2,675,954, or 5.4 percent while Operating Costs are decreasing by $2,435,671.

WINSTON-SALEM

To learn more about the budget and view the proposed FY 2023-24 budget, go to cityofws.org/budget. According to Budget and Performance Management Department Director Scott Tesh, the adopted budget documents are usually not available until August.

• The budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year is $607.8 million — $2.1 million more than the initially proposed budget

• The property tax rate is rising to 66.1 cents — a 2.5 cent increase. The tax rate increase is allocated to the general fund — 1.5 cents covering non-police personnel and operating increases and 1 cent covering police pay plan changes.

• Water and sewer rates increase 7 percent on July 1, 2023, while stormwater fees increase 8 percent, effective Jan. 1, 2024.

• The budget eliminates 50 vacant police officer positions to help fund the increase in police pay. $52,500 will be the new minimum salary for a police officer and all current sworn law enforcement staff will receive a minimum salary adjustment of 10.3 percent.

• All city employees will be eligible for a merit raise of up to 6.5 percent and a salary supplement of up to $2,000 per employee, depending on salary.

• The minimum wage for city workers will rise to $15.45 per hour on Jan. 1, 2024.

• This year the city will be spending a proposed total of $94.3 million on the police department. Last year the department was allotted a total of $87.2 million. The city’s fire department — which had a budget of $41.1 million last year — is slated to spend $47.1 million this fiscal year according to Budget Manager Sarah Coffey. The budget also funds the first year of the city’s new mental health response team — the BEAR Team — at $836,400. As an alternative to police response to nonviolent mental health calls, the program also provides follow-up services.

• Last year Winston-Salem Transit Authority had a budget of $23 million. This year’s budget allocates $23.57 million. The $2.1 million increase from the initially proposed budget includes an additional $214,000 which will go toward one-time supplemental pay for WSTA employees.

• Greater Winston-Salem, Inc. and the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership are now receiving $150,000 each. Last year GWSI received $100,000 and DWSP received $32,570. The significant increase to DWSP is due to “funding for a maintenance contract for Merschel Park,” the budget states. DWSP’s Jason Thiel earned $110,000 according to tax records from 2022

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.

There was another police shooting in Greensboro. Here’s what we do and don’t know.

by Sayaka Matsuoka

On Friday, June 30, news outlets around Greensboro got a press release announcing that another police shooting had occurred in the city. This marks the second time in less than two weeks in which law enforcement has shot and killed a person in Greensboro.

The first took place on June 22 in which police shot and killed Graham Thomas Roberson, a 51-year-old white man who was walking on Tuscaloosa Street after they said Roberson “displayed” a firearm. Further questions revealed that Roberson never pointed or fired the gun he had at police. This time, the release was longer.

According to the police press release, police officers were dispatched near Randleman Road around 9:40 p.m. after calls came in about gunfire. Upon arriving to the scene police realized that the sounds were actually fireworks. However, about 15 minutes later, they encountered a person who they say was wielding a knife and a machete. According to the press release, there was a foot pursuit and officers attempted to use a Taser and pepper spray to subdue the person who ran to a nearby gas station. Once there, police said the person turned towards the officers and” began advancing towards officers with the knives.” Three officers then shot and killed the person.

As with the last shooting, many questions remain.

Why not use a Taser or pepper spray when the person was closer? Why not shoot the person in the leg? Why were there three officers shooting? Why wasn’t the city’s behavioral co-response team dispatched alongside police?

The press release (if we are to believe everything it says on its face) states that police used less than lethal force during the chase. But what about when the person was closer?

The circumstances sound harrowingly like the Chieu Di Thi Vo case While many may not remember Vo’s name, the case took place less than a decade ago.

In that instance, Greensboro resident and Vietnamese immigrant Chieu Di Thi Vo was shot and killed by Greensboro Police Officer Timothy Bloch. At the time, the police department, which was led by Chief Wayne Scott, and the District Attorney’s office found that the shooting was justified. Since then, Bloch has put out a book and has maintained that he acted justifiably in shooting and killing Vo.

As for the June 30 shooting, more reporting is clearly needed. Body-camera footage, like in the case of Vo, will only be revealed if the police department, city council or members of the public petition the courts to have it released, or if members of the deceased’s family request to see it.

So far, the name of the person killed has yet to be released.

The Supreme Court has become an unfunny joke

There was a time in this country when we all had a lot of respect for the US Supreme Court, the highest court in the land. We believed that lifetime appointments of justices gave them independence, placing them beyond the reach of political concerns. And, indeed, many SCOTUS judges defied the politics of those who appointed them in the pursuit of justice.

That’s over, though. The current court has become a cruel joke on the public as they continue to make decisions that harm the people and help their masters.

Their decisions in the last week would be hilarious if they weren’t so devastating to millions of Americans. It seems hypocrisy is not recognized by this court.

People who understood how Clarence Thomas came to be a Supreme Court Justice — affirmative-action, both in his entry into Yale and his position on the court to replace the other Black justice, Thurgood Marshall — watched with mouths agape as he joined five of his conservative colleagues to end affirmative action for the rest of the nation.

People who know that Justice Brett Kavanagh’s loans mysteriously disappeared before he joined SCOTUS, and that his own wealthy family financed his Yale education, scoffed as he sided with the conser-

Jen Sorensen jensorensen.com

vative majority to end President Joe Biden’s student-loan forgiveness program.

But the worst of this last slate of decisions before the court’s summer recess was 303 Creative v. Elenis, in which the plaintiff, Lorie Smith, lied about the circumstances that brought her before the court.

Smith said she was interested in designing wedding websites, but that she would not make them for gay weddings because of her sincerely held religious beliefs. As part of her complaint, she said she had turned down a prospective couple, known only in court documents as “Stewart and Mike,” because of her faith.

But it turned out that there is no Stewart and Mike. Smith had entirely fabricated the anecdote that brought her before the highest court in the land.

Does that matter? SCOTUS said it did not: Smith had filed for a “pre-enforcement challenge,” meaning she was looking for a legal way to discriminate against the LGBTQIA2S+ community regardless of whether any of them wanted to hire her in the first place.

Such a phenomenal waste of time and resources. Such hate sown among our country for something that did not even happen. And it further erodes trust in one of our sacred institutions, which these days is comprised mostly of political hacks hiding in black robes.

John Cole

Courtesy of NC Policy Watch

The current court has become a cruel joke on the public.

CULTURE

Q 8 CULTURE | JULY 612, 2023

Q&A: Winston-Salem musician Artistry talks release of mixtape, It’s Just a Mixtape Vol. II

by Michaela Ratliff

J

oseph Worrell, who goes by Artistry, never wanted to make music. The Winston-Salem native grew up in a house full of classically trained musicians and performers, but he wanted to be an entrepreneur, so he explored ventures with an artistic feel like publishing novels and short stories. But between helping family with musical projects and familiarizing himself with different instruments over the years, Worell couldn’t avoid the talent in his blood. He succumbed to the internal urge of a music career and adopted his stage name, paying homage to the fact that he’s well-versed in various forms of art. As a member of PROH Entertainment, he taps into his entrepreneurial background to promote himself and other artists. His latest mixtape, It’s Just a Mixtape Vol. II, includes five tracks that openly display Artistry’s versatility and was produced by Jhay Asjawn and Travis Lewis, who goes by TravieeTre. Inspired by an array of musicians from different genres like Guns N’ Roses, Kendrick Lamar and Michael Jackson, Artistry experiments with unorthodox rhythms, creates diverse flows and toys with traditional song structure. Despite the intricacy of its makeup, Artistry says there is no underlying theme or message to the project. After all, it’s just a mixtape.

Can you tell me a little bit more about growing up in a musical family? Did this inspire you to make music of your own?

The earliest I remember being in the studio, I was around 6 or 7 years old and I was with my sister [Amanda] and my dad [Shelton] and my dad was working on a gospel project back then. He had my sister and I helping him with vocals, so songwriting, singing in the studio has been since I was a child.

What’s funny is I didn’t want to necessarily do the same things my family did. I knew I was going to be and do something, but I didn’t want to go that route. It seemed like it was not for me. So when I was coming up I really suppressed my artistic side. It was just a hobby as opposed to a career. It’s interesting how that came back around in thirrd or fourth grade when I started playing guitar. I’ve been playing since then, and it’s segued into my creativity continuing to spill out. I can’t mask who I am anymore.

How long have you been making your own music? How many projects do you have out?

Actually going into the studio and making my own projects, it’s been about seven years now.

I have a lot of stuff I was putting out on SoundCloud to get used to the process of releasing music and being an artist, but Vol. I and II are the first ones I have on actual streaming services.

A Q

Your upcoming release is titled It’s Just A Mixtape, Vol. 2. Tell me more about Vol. 1 and why you decided to continue the series.

Artistry, aka Joseph Worrell, grew up in a musical household but came to it later in lifeNot that I didn’t put my all into it, but there’s layers I understand about how I fully engage a project. With these two specific ones, I didn’t go as in depth as I know I really can. With these first two volumes, it’s still telling a story, just not the super in-depth way artistry goes into making an album. That’s why I say ‘it’s just a mixtape’ — it’s just a playlist of songs that may or may not pertain to one another and may or may not have a real theme.

Q A

How long have you been working with Jhay Asjawn and TravieeTre? What’s that like?

It’s been a fun experience so far. Trav, I met him in high school and we ended up rooming together in college and that’s where we met Jhay Asjawn. Jhay happened to be into music as well, and we were all in this A&T organization called ARCH and we were communed together so it happened very seamlessly. We’ve just been rocking ever since. You can never do anything great by yourself so having my partners is awesome.

What do you want listeners to take away from your music?

The way that I look at music, it’s something that’s so much deeper than a vibe. If you vibe with it, bet! But I want that vibe to offer substance.

COURTESY PHOTO

It’s Just a Mixtape Vol. II is set to release July 7 on Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music and YouTube Music. Follow Artistry on Instagram @works_of_artistry for updates.

Can you Dig it?

Local gardening subscription box business grows organically across the US

by Sayaka Matsuoka

Hayley Figueroa almost always has dirt under her fingernails, so she spends a lot of time cleaning them.

As a natural gardener, there’s hardly a day that goes by without her planting something, pulling weeds or at least thinking about gardening. And these days, she’s encouraging others to get their hands dirty, too.

Figueroa is one half of the local start-up Dig. Garden Gift & Subscription Box, a business which started in 2021. She and her business partner, Irma Marrero, connected a few years ago and used to daydream about starting their own gardening venture while sipping coffee and eating baked goods at Savor the Moment bakery.

Both shared a love of planting — Figueroa with vegetables and Marrero with flowers and microgreens.

“We like to say that we’re like a Reese’s commercial,” Figueroa jokes. “Your peanut butter is in my chocolate. Now, we grow all the things.”

That’s how the idea for Dig. was born.

Cocooned in a medium, compostable box, every month to two months, subscribers get a variety of seeds, a growing medium, plant markers, a tool and an accessory or self-care item. Everything from fruit and vegetables to edible flowers could be contained inside. And because customers plant at different times of the year depending on where they are located, the box works for everyone.

The idea started in 2018 during the duo’s coffee chats but really blossomed during the pandemic. They had previously entertained the idea of starting their own community garden but soon realized that prices for land were too expensive. Then they thought of flipping the concept.“We couldn’t take people to the garden, but we could bring the garden to them,” Marrero says.

Plus, with a subscription box, they could reach people beyond just Greensboro. Now, the business is shipping to 24 states and counting. Many of their customers are located along the coasts, especially in New York, where both Figueroa and Marrero were raised. Their common upbringing doesn’t stop there. Both the co-founders’ families are originally from the Caribbean, something that Figueroa says informs the way they think about their business.

“In the islands, it’s not really even gardening; it’s just life,” she says. “You go outside and there’s a mango tree; it’s just natural. I was born here, but my parents held on to a lot of that. Growing up, my father turned most of our proper-

ty into a garden. That bonding was very important to me and it jump-started my curiosity not just about plants but science.”

That act of bonding through growing is something that the Dig box aims to foster for other families, too.

In addition to its popular premium box, the business also offers Dig Jr., an option for kids. Like the premium version, the kid’s box has seeds, markers, a tool and a growing medium, but it also includes a book or activity. In themed boxes like the one for Black History Month, a little insert explains the foods eaten by enslaved Africans and the importance of foods like okra, black-eye peas and watermelon. In the past, the duo has offered a diaspora box that represented their backgrounds. Offerings included things like calabaza, aka pumpkin or culantro, a perennial herb that’s not dissimilar to cilantro.

In addition to explaining the background of some of the seeds, the inserts in the boxes explain how to plant the seeds and when to harvest. A private Facebook group specifically for Dig customers allows for planters to regularly communicate with each other about their new seeds and share their progress.

The point, the duo says, is to plant the seed of curiosity no matter how old the gardener.

“A lot of kids have no idea where their foods came from,” Figueroa says. “They don’t know that tomatoes grow on a vine.”

Figueroa says that there’s a mental and emotional benefit to gardening, too.

“There’s a physiological benefit to getting kids out in the dirt,” she says. “For all of us, the microbes in the dirt are healing.”

Figueroa, who used to work in public health, believes that part of the reason why there are so many diet-related illnesses in the United States is because people don’t know about nutrition and food health. The pandemic

Irma Marrero, left, and partner Haley Figueroa, bring the garden to you.

PHOTO BY SHANNON COX PHOTOGRAPHY

just made all of that worse.

“Our food system leaves a lot to be desired,” she says. “I feel like if you can grow it, you should. If you can be less dependent on the food system, you should be…. We saw in 2020 how easily our supply chain broke down. It doesn’t take more than a week to see serious issues. If you grow your own food, you have an insurance policy.”

People might not be able to feed their whole families, but the key is to start small, Figueroa says.

“It doesn’t have to be anything but one small raised bed,” she says. In fact, part of the reason their business has become so popular is due to apartment dwellers who don’t have access to land but still want to plant and garden at home.

“They get so excited that we have things for them,” Marrero says. Plus, the more people garden, the more sharing can occur.

“If you have a small garden at your home, and you’re great at tomatoes, but you suck at lettuce, but your neighbor is good at growing tomatoes and your other neighbor is good at pumpkins, you guys are gonna have a lot of pumpkin and tomatoes,” Marrero says. “You can share and not be as dependent on the food chain.

“We want all the people to grow all the things,” Marrero adds. “Even if you don’t grow with us, we want everyone to grow all the things.”

Learn more about Dig. at thedigbox.com. Follow on social media at @thedigbox.

SHOT IN THE TRIAD

BY CAROLYN DE BERRY

West McGee Street

Tell us what you think!

Participate in the Spring 2023 Reader Survey

Scan the QR code:

Kendra Alexander and Sultan Ali celebrate with their guests at their Fourth of July wedding in downtown Greensboro.

CROSSWORD SUDOKU

by Matt Jones

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS: Across

1. Brooks who turned 97 this year

4. Planktonic crustaceans

9. Political Pelosi

14. Eggy start

15. Capital of Vietnam

16. “___ a couple seconds ...”

17. Source of coincidental thoughts

47. “Shameless” network, for short

49. Actress Vardalos

51. Either of my kids, compared to me?

58. Insults, when thrown

59. Obvious sticking point?

61. Monty Python member Michael

62. “Buenos Aires” musical

63. Matchbox Twenty’s Thomas

64. Concert venue

65. Spouts off without reason

66. Old-school icons, slangily

Down

1. Actress Gretchen of “Boardwalk Empire”

2. Satan’s specialty

3. “The Avengers” villain

4. Cambodian language

5. Save point?

6. Wayside taverns

7. Big deposit

8. Rolling Stone article, often

9. Stealthy sort

10. “Henry and June” diarist

11. Part of NdGT

12. Biology class unit

13. Gridiron stat

34. Go too fast

36. QVC rival (and corporate sibling)

37. “Captain Underpants” creator

Pilkey

39. Included

40. “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” singer

45. “Kitchy-kitchy-___!”

46. ___ mi (sandwich on French bread)

48. “Laughing” animal

50. Small amounts

51. “ ___ she blows!”

52. Hearty partner

53. Laptop owner

54. Suddenly bright star

35. Regatta racer’s implement 36. Le ___ (French seaport)

37. Decked out

38. “That sound! Is it a giant keyring?”

41. From ___ (effective immediately)

42. Baryshnikov’s company, once

43. Suffix for Nepal

44. Mumford’s backup? 45. Mombasa’s country

46. “Bullet Train” star Pitt

18. Hi-C ___ Cooler (“Ghostbusters”-inspired drink)

21. “Call of Duty: Black ___”

24. Commuter train stops

25. Owner of Tumblr (until 2018)

26. Jumbo shrimp

28. Bring up memories of

29. Boston hockey player

30. Discworld creator Pratchett

32. Lawn tool

33. Second-largest city in Oklahoma

55. Sheepish look, sometimes

56. Italian money

57. Pollution in big cities

58. Resort to retreat to

60. Little pellets

‘Get the Hook’ — another letter, please.

© 2023 Matt Jones

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