TCB Aug. 24, 2023 — 'Restorative Justice'

CITY LIFE

THURSDAY

THREE @ the Art Gallery at Congdon Yards (HP) 12 p.m.

This three-person art exhibit showcases the different painting styles of three artists. Agnes Preston-Brame creates abstract people that “convey familiar emotions, attitudes and circumstances with psychological intensity.” Sallie White’s work “explores themes of shifting time and energy, the bridges and pathways between past and present and their imprints on each other.” Adele Wayman’s paintings reveal her fascination with nature. Learn more at tagart.org

Artist Support Grants @ Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County (WS) Online

The application for artist support grants from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County are available online until September 24. Awards range from $500 to $2000 and support visual arts, music composition and other creative outlets. Apply at intothearts.org/post/artist-support

German Wine Flight Night @ the Loaded Grape (HP) 4 p.m.

Try a selection of wines from Germany including sparkling, pinot noir, gewurztraminer and riesling. Purchase tickets at loadedgrape.com

FRIDAY

Grand Opening @ Crumbl Cookies (HP) 8 a.m.

Crumbl Cookies is coming to High Point! Stop by for a weekend-long celebration. Download the app for a free cookie cutter with your purchase on Friday. Visit crumblcookies.com/nchighpoint for more information.

Enjoy the Ride @ Greensboro Coliseum (GSO) 10 a.m.

Vintage Market Days presents Enjoy the Ride, a three-day upscale vintage-inspired indoor/outdoor market with original art, antiques, clothing, and more to purchase. Find more information at vintagemarketdays.com/market/piedmont-triad

Songwriters in the Round @ Centennial Station Arts Center (HP) 7 p.m.

High Point Arts Council is hosting Songwriters in the Round, an evening for Bobbie Needham, Acisse Jay and Jack Gorham to perform original works, improvise off each other and share stories about their songwriting process. Purchase tickets at highpointarts.org/events

SATURDAY

Rhythm & Hope Concert @ Winston-Salem Fairground, Clocktower Stage (W-S) 4:30 p.m.

Crisis Control Ministry presents its annual community concert under a new name, the Rhythm & Hope concert. This free concert features performances by Souljam and The Phase Band, food trucks and family-friendly activities. CCM is also collecting food donations to stock its client-choice food pantries. Register for the concert and view a list of most-needed items at crisiscontrol.org

The Human Form: August Art Gallery (and Live Body Painting!) @ the Brewer’s Kettle (HP) 7 p.m.

This month’s exhibition features various works that explore the human body. There will also be a live body painting by Shann Ferreira you don’t want to miss. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

SUNDAY

THE TRIAD’S LOCAL EVENT TICKETING PLATFORM

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TCBTix is the local ticketing platform created exclusively for Triad-area community events. It’s free, easy to use, and fully customizable with all-access ticketing features to meet your event’s unique needs.

For more information, scan the QR code or email chris@triad-city-beat.com.

CITY LIFE

Tires & Taps @ Wise Man Brewing (WS) 10 a.m.

Stop by Wise Man Brewing for a car show that welcomes all makes and models. Start your morning with donuts from Lil Donuts NC and coffee from Ivy’s Coffee Co. before the show. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

Repair Café NC @ Reconsidered Goods (GSO) 1 p.m.

Repair Café NC is a free repair workshop where residents can receive repair assistance from volunteer coaches and learn repair techniques for items like lamps, tabletop appliances, furniture and more. Register in advance at repaircafenc.org

THURSDAY

Cooking with DAC @ Creative Aging Network (GSO) 2 p.m.

Join the Creative Aging Network and Disability Advocacy Center for a seafood delight cooking class. Learn how to cook quick and easy meals, pick up tips on preparing recipes and learn how to cook with limited mobility. Call 336.419.0784 or email dac2019org@gmail.com to register. Visit the event page on Facebook to attend virtually.

Paws & T-Ales @ the Wrong Number (W-S) 5 p.m.

Dog lovers are invited to play dog trivia, get to know some adoptable dogs and view a doggie cocktail demo. Purchase treats from Howlin’ at the Moon Bakery, learn more about the services from Winston-Salem Dog Care and learn how you can help the Haley Graves Foundation. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

FRIDAY

sionals through education” and highlights women and non-binary people in brewing. Taste beer from more than 20 breweries while enjoying live music, Taco Bros. food truck, artisan booths and educational activities. Purchase tickets at bieredefemme. com

Kendall Street Company @ Stock + Grain Assembly (HP) 8 p.m.

2023

Bookmarks Festival Launch Party

@ Bookmarks (W-S) 7 p.m.

The 2023 Bookmarks Festival and Launch Party is a pay-what-you-can event to support festival author’s in-school visits. Learn more about this year’s featured authors and events and grab dinner from El Sabor Tabasqueño, Wutyasay or Fresh AF food trucks. Drinks and desserts on Bookmarks! Register on Eventbrite

First Friday: Transparency Exhibition @ Center for Visual Artists (GSO) 6 p.m.

Transparency is a collaboration between JTR Presents and the Center for Visual Artists focused on advocating for the transgender community. View pieces from local artists that raise awareness and spark conversations about trans issues and representation. Find more information at jtrpresents.art/ the-transparency-project-overview

Blue Diamond Film Festival @ Reynolds Place Theatre (W-S) 6 p.m.

The Blue Diamond Film Festival is the chance for a variety of independent artists and authors to present their work in front of a national audience. It’s not too late to submit your flm for screening! Visit the event page on Facebook for instructions.

SATURDAY

Virginia-based band Kendall Street Company will fll Stock + Grain with eclectic rock fused with crowd participation, comedy, surprise musical guests and more to enjoy. Head to stockandgrainhp.com for a lineup of performances.

SUNDAY

Paint Party @ Southerlands Cigar Lounge (HP) 4 p.m.

Join Queen’s Paint & Play for a painter’s choice paint night where the creation is up to you. Enjoy your frst drink or cigar on Queen. Register by Sept. 1 at conta.cc/3E3824F

Piedmont Pops in the Pit: Dance Around the World @ Incendiary Brewing Company (W-S) 6 p.m.

Piedmont Wind Symphony is putting on a free concert made of music associated with dances from around the world. More info on the event page on Facebook.

Black

(Art)repreneur Mixer @ High Point Area Arts Council (HP) 5:30 p.m.

In celebration of National Black Business Month, High Point Arts Council in partnership with Lago’s Luxe Events is hosting a Black artrepreneur mixer for Black artists, creatives and business owners to mix and mingle with music, light refreshments and a cash bar. More info on the Facebook event page

Biere de Femme @ Oden Brewing Co. (GSO) 1 p.m.

The Biere de Femme beer festival raises scholarship funds for the Pink Boots Society, which “seeks to assist, inspire, and encourage women and non-binary fermented/alcoholic beverage profes-

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

OPINION

Solutions journalism, what

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ART

Aiden Siobhan aiden@triad-city-beat.com

COVER: Design by Aiden Siobhan

f you follow the news, it will seem like the world that we live in is an increasingly brutal place. The devastating effects of climate change, the rolling back of civil rights, the increasing wealth gap. It’s all too much.

Ianalyzing their shortcomings while offering them as a potential solution.

by Sayaka Matsuoka

Of course, the news exists to report on the state of the world and how things are going. But too much of it casts everything in a negative light, even if it’s reality.

Solutions journalism aims to shift that dynamic.

Founded a decade ago, the framework takes the tenets of journalism and focuses them on things that are working in society rather than solely focusing on its problems.

Per the solutions journalism website, the idea is to shine a light on “how people are trying to solve problems and what we can learn from their successes or failures.”

Here’s what solutions journalism is not: It’s not hero-worshipping, PR-like content that glosses over the real issues while only focusing on “feel-good” stories. What it is, is a critical approach to examining responses to real-world problems and

In our complicated world, more and more news outlets are turning towards solutions journalism to offer some solace and more nuanced narratives about our communities. And here at TCB, we’re trying our hand at it too. We’ve created a category on our site for all of our solutions journalism stories and we’ll be actively pursuing more.

In the last two weeks, we’ve published two solutions journalism pieces: one about how High Point is tackling reparations and the other about how WinstonSalem’s alternative police response program is going.

Of course, not everything works. But in an era when things seem to be darker than ever, we all need to spend some time focusing on the things that could bring some light into our lives.

Have a solutions journalism tip? Send it to sayaka@triadcity-beat.com.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

Receive weekly updates on breaking News stories with Monday Mix, stay in the loop with our curated events calendar The Weekender, and view our headlining stories with TCB This Week.

Solutions journalism aims to shift the dynamic of news reporting.

it is and why it’s important

That dissonance is such a part of the modern condition. You go from one disaster to another but yet you still have to fnd time to make dinner, still have to fnd time to send some emails, you still have to fnd time to mow the grass.

Sam Logan, pg. 19

A CityBeat story

The 2023 Salary Guide

by Gale Melcher | gale@triad-city-beat.com

For some city employees, it’s clear that infation isn’t hitting them as hard as it’s hitting others. The minimum wage for city workers in Winston-Salem is $15.45; in Greensboro it’s $18. Now that the budgets have been passed in the Triad cities, we’ve compiled a list of city employee salaries across Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point thanks to public records requests and data from Greensboro’s Open Gate City. These do not include the salaries of employees who work at the county level. Salaries are listed in descending order from greatest to least.

Care to take a guess at the highest earner? Hint: he’s been at the top of the list for years.

Entertainment Facilities

• Coliseum Director Matt Brown, Greensboro — $418,615

• Brown has been the coliseum’s director since 1994.

• Deputy Coliseum Director Scott Johnson, Greensboro — $184,283

Executive

• City Manager Taiwo Jaiyeoba, Greensboro — $312,000

• Jaiyeoba has been city manager since February 2022

• Future City Manager William “Pat” Pate, WinstonSalem — $285,000

• Pate will begin work this November

• City Manager Tasha Logan Ford, High Point — $234,886

• Ford has been city manager since July 2021

• Deputy City Manager Greg Ferguson, High Point — $192,976

• Ferguson has been deputy city manager since January 2022

• Deputy City Manager Chris Wilson, Greensboro — $208,138

• Wilson has been deputy city manager since February 2022

• Assistant City Manager/Interim City Manager Johnnie Taylor, Winston-Salem — $192,686

• Taylor has been an ACM since July 2021

• Assistant City Manager Larry Davis, Greensboro —

$184,961

• Davis has been an ACM since July 2019

• Assistant City Manager Nathaniel “Trey” Davis, Greensboro — $184,961

• Davis has been an ACM since June 2019

• Assistant City Manager Nasha McCray, Greensboro —

$180,941

City Beat stories are free to republish, courtesy of Triad City Beat and the NC Local News Lab Fund. See our website for details.

• McCray has been an ACM since July 2022

• Assistant City Manager Eric Olmedo, High Point — $175,999

• Olmedo has been and ACM since October 2019

• Assistant City Manager Ben Rowe, Winston-Salem —$175,903

• Rowe has been an ACM since December 2013

• Assistant City Manager Damon Duquenne, High Point — $164,380

• Duquenne has been an ACM since June 2022

• Assistant City Manager Aaron King, Winston-Salem — $163,628

• King has been an ACM since November 2021

• Assistant City Manager Patrice Toney, Winston-Salem — $163,331

• Toney has been an ACM since July 2021

• Director of Intergovernmental Affairs & Strategic Initiatives Tiffany Oliva, Winston-Salem — $105,000

Legal

• City Attorney Charles “Chuck” Watts, Greensboro — $270,400

• City Attorney Angela Carmon, Winston-Salem — $220,455

• City Attorney Meghan Maguire, High Point — $175,000

• Deputy City Attorney Anargiros “Jerry” Kontos, Winston-Salem — $172,207

Budget

• Budget and Performance Management Director Scott Tesh, Winston-Salem — $151,295

• Budget and Evaluation Director Jon Decker, Greensboro — $137,107

• Budget and Performance Director Stephen Hawryluk, High Point — $120,750

Finance

• Finance Director Marlene Druga, Greensboro — $171,414

• Chief Financial Ofcer Kelly Latham, Winston Salem — $164, 220

• Financial Services Director Bobby Fitzjohn, High Point — $162,292

Legislative

• City Clerk Angela Lord, Greensboro — $125,741

• City Clerk Sandra Keeney, High Point — $84,999

• City Clerk Jayme Waldeck-Cranfll, Winston-Salem — $76,828

• Deputy City Clerk Mary Brooks, High Point — $65,823

• Deputy City Clerk Victoria Howell, Greensboro — $62,251

• Deputy City Clerk Tatiana Banner, Winston-Salem — $55,820

Elected Ofcials

• Mayor Nancy Vaughan, Greensboro — $33,224

• Mayor Allen Joines, Winston-Salem — $8,400 according to city payroll documents. The city’s budget outlines a $34,120 salary component, an $8,400 expense allowance and $3,900 optional car allowance for Joines. However, according to the city’s Budget Director Scott Tesh, Joines does not take it and usually gives it back to the community agencies throughout the city.

• Mayor Pro Tempore Denise D. Adams, Winston-Salem — $32,340

• Council members Barbara Hanes Burke, Annette Scippio, James Taylor, Jr., John Larson, Kevin Mundy, Robert C. Clark and Jeff MacIntosh, Winston-Salem — $32,340

• Mayor Jay Wagner, High Point — $26,649

• Mayor Pro Tempore Yvonne Johnson, Greensboro —

$26,409

• Council member Goldie Wells, Greensboro — $25,657

• Council member Nancy Hoffmann, Greensboro —

$25,657

• Council member Marikay Abuzuaiter, Greensboro —

$25,657

• Council member Sharon Hightower, Greensboro —

$25,657

• Council member Hugh Holston, Greensboro — $25,422

• Council member Zack Matheny, Greensboro —

$25,306

• Council member Tammi Thurm, Greensboro —

$25,075

• Mayor Pro Tempore Wesley Hudson, High Point —

$20,307

• Council members Britt Moore, Tyrone Johnson, Cyril Jefferson, Christopher Williams, Monica Peters, Victor Jones and Michael Holmes, High Point — $20,307

Police

• Police Chief John Thompson, Greensboro — $202,800

• Thompson has been GPD’s police chief since 2022 and has served with the department since 2012. Thompson was an assistant police chief from 2020-22.

• Assistant Police Chief Wilson Weaver, Winston-Salem —

$189,718

• Weaver has been with the department since 1984.

Police Chief Travis Stroud, High Point — $177,623

• Stroud has been police chief since 2021 and has served with the department since 1995

• Police Chief William Penn, Winston-Salem — $175,000

• Penn has been WSPD’s police chief since 2023 and has served with the department since 1997. Penn was an assistant police chief from 2019-23.

• Assistant Police Chief Jose “Manny” Gomez, WinstonSalem — $134,636

• Assistant Police Chief Michael Cardwell, WinstonSalem — $123,722

• Assistant Police Chief Katherine Allen, Winston-Salem — $123,176

• Deputy Police Chief Anthro Gamble, High Point —

$122,536

• Assistant Chief Stephanie Mardis, Greensboro —

$119,730

• Assistant Chief Rick Alston, Greensboro — $117,187

• Assistant Chief MJ Harris, Greensboro — $117,187

• Assistant Chief Doug Tabler, Greensboro — $117,187

• Assistant Police Chief Kevin Ray, High Point —

$110,934

• GPD Public Information Manager Josie Cambareri, Greensboro — $79,592

Starting Pay for Police Ofcers

• Greensboro: $55,000

• Winston-Salem: $52,500

• High Point: $47,887

Fire

• Fire Chief Thomas Reid, High Point — $187,580

• Fire Chief William “Trey” Mayo, Winston-Salem —

$187,389

• Fire Chief Jim Robinson, Greensboro — $182,000

Starting Pay for Firefghters

• Greensboro: $47,812

• Winston-Salem: Depends on education level

• Firefghter Trainee: $37,590-$41,349

• Certifed Firefghter Salary: $39,469-$43,416

• High Point: $36,606

Winston-Salem’s Community Assistance Liaisons

Each ward has an assigned liaison who addresses concerns on behalf of the ward’s council member. Liaisons organize and coordinate special events and community meetings on behalf of council members to “engage residents and seek feedback on community issues.”

City Manager Lee Garrity established the Ofce of Community Assistance in 2007. The ofce “facilitates the resolution of complaints, receives suggestions and requests from city residents and assists them in navigating city government.”

• Vernetta DeVane, South Ward — $98,631

• Jennifer Chrysson, Southwest Ward — $84,108

• Yolanda Gilliam-Taylor, Southeast Ward — $76,131

• Zina Johnson, North Ward — $72,287

• Sabrina Stowe, East Ward — $65,653

• Tamra Bradshaw-Sheller, Northeast Ward — $58,689

• Breasia Wynn, Northwest and West Wards — $58,689

Greensboro’s Ofce of Community Safety

This ofce focuses on collaboration and cooperation between city leadership, the Greensboro Police Department and the community to enhance public safety.

• OCS Manager Latisha McNeil — $111,677

• BHRT Team Lead Erin Williams — $85,263

• BHRT Team Member Dewey Mullis — $71,909

• BHRT Team Member Ebony Pittman — $67,597

• BHRT Team Member Quentin Ealey — $67,409

• BHRT Team Member Shona Farrish — $67,409

• BHRT Team Member Kristina Giordano — $67,409

• Violence Prevention Coordinator Arthur Durham — $68,120

• LEAD coordinator Mary Houser — $58,250

Utilities

• Utilities Director Courtney Driver, Winston-Salem/ Forsyth County — $169,333

• Electric Utilities Director Tyler Berrier, High Point — $169,168

• Water Resources Director Mike Borchers, Greensboro

— $166,875

• Director of Field Operations (Stormwater, Erosion Control, Streets and Drainage Maintenance) Keith Huff, Winston Salem — $137,407

• Street Maintenance Superintendent Kenneth Sult, High Point — $104,397

Sanitation

• Sanitation Director Charlie Dulin, Winston-Salem — $116,810

• Solid Waste Collections Manager Grifn Hatchell, Greensboro— $104,916

• Deputy Sanitation Director Johnita Campbell, WinstonSalem — $83,017

• In Greensboro, solid waste operators in the feld operations department make between $36,064$50,911.

• In Winston-Salem, sanitation laborers make between $31,200-$32,292.

• In High Point, job postings for sanitation workers offer $31,200-$39,551 annually

Planning

• Planning Director Sue Schwartz, Greensboro — $161,099

• Planning Director Chris Murphy, Winston-Salem —$135,850

• Planning Director Sushil Nepal, High Point — $133,931

Community and Neighborhood Development

• Housing Development Director Marla Newman, Winston-Salem — $151,967

• Director of Housing and Neighborhood Development Michelle Kennedy, Greensboro — $145,806

• Neighborhood Services Director Shantell McClam, Winston-Salem — $133,000

• Community Development & Housing Director Thanena Wilson — $132,570

Sustainability/Environmental Services

• Chief Sustainability Ofcer Shameka Dorestant, Greensboro — $111,678

• Keep Winston-Salem Beautiful Coordinator George Stilphen, Winston-Salem — $77,790

• Recycling Program Administrator Derek Owens, Winston-Salem — $71,809

• Energy Management Coordinator Lindsey Smith, Winston-Salem — $69,793

• Food Resilience Program Manager Moriah Gendy, Winston-Salem — $67,290

• Beautifcation Supervisor Rebecca Coplin, High Point — $63,984

Transportation

• Transportation Director Hanna Cockburn, Greensboro — $159,720

• Transportation Director Greg Venable, High Point — $129,438

• Transportation Director Jeff Fansler, Winston-Salem — $121,000

• Trafc Operations Engineer Matthew Carpenter, High Point — $104,584

Engineering and Inspections

• Engineering & Inspections Director Kenney McDowell, Greensboro — $170,529

6,

• City Engineer Robert Prestwood, Winston-Salem —

$150,065

Libraries

• Library Director Brigitte Blanton, Greensboro —

$166,875

• Library Director Mary Sizemore, High Point —

$142,715

Information

• Chief Information Ofcer Tom Kureczka, WinstonSalem — $173,833

• PIRT Administrator Kurt Brenneman, Greensboro —

$59,635

Parks and Recreation

• Parks and Recreation Director Phillip Fleischmann, Greensboro — $152,693

• Parks and Recreation Director Lee Tillery, High Point — $146,132

• Parks and Recreation Director William Royston, Winston-Salem — $121,338

• Parks and Recreation Deputy Director Kobe Riley, Greensboro — $117,440

• Parks and Recreation Assistant Director Leah Friend, Winston-Salem — $90,437

Emergency Services

• Guilford Metro 911 Director Melanie Jones,

Greensboro — $166,875

Human Relations

• Human Relations/Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director Wanda Allen-Abraha, Winston-Salem — $160,053

• Human Relations/DEI Assistant Director Ronnie Christians, Winston-Salem — $95,910

• Human Relations Manager Rase McCray, High Point — $81,404

• Community Relations Specialist Danice Taylor, High Point — $45,572

Human Resources

• Human Resources Director Angela Kirkwood, High Point — $165,545

• People & Culture Director Jamiah Waterman, Greensboro — $160,626

• Human Resources Director Marquis Barnett, WinstonSalem — $157,327

Purchasing

• Purchasing Manager Candy Harmon, High Point — $146,132

• Procurement Services Director Angie Waters, Greensboro — $101,056

• Purchasing Director Darren Redfeld, Winston-Salem — $83,771

• Senior Buyer Tawanna Gates, Winston-Salem —

$67,729

Museums

• Greensboro History Museum Director Carol Hart, Greensboro — $101,821

• Museum Director Edith Brady, High Point — $68,729

Marketing and Communications

• Communications & Public Engagement Managing Director Jeron Hollis, High Point — $152,992

• Director of Communications and Marketing of Carla Banks, Greensboro — $143,077

• Director of Marketing and Communications Veronique

George, Winston-Salem — $121,000

• Marketing Manager Ryan Ferguson, High Point — $102,831

• Division Manager Jake Keys, Greensboro — $85,803

• Deputy Director of Marketing and Communications Mary Giunca, Winston-Salem — $82,205

• Senior Communications Specialist Amanda Lehmert, Greensboro — $69,201

• Senior Reporter/Producer for WSTV 13 Sarah Mastouri, Winston-Salem — $54,777

• Senior Community Educator Braxton LangstonChapman, Winston-Salem — $53,631

A Multi-Million Dollar Problem

use force

by Sayaka Matsuoka | sayaka@triad-city-beat.com

Four million, one-hundred-and-nine thousand, twohundred-and-twenty-four dollars and eighteen cents. That’s how much the city of Greensboro has spent in taxpayer dollars to defend police ofcers who have used force against residents in the last fve years.

According to a public records request made by Triad City Beat, the city has paid attorneys more than $4 million across six civil lawsuits to defend police ofcers who have been accused of using excessive force, which in some instances left victims dead.

Marcus Smith

The most famous of these cases is the case of Marcus Deon Smith, an unhoused man experiencing a mental health crisis who was hogtied by Greensboro police ofcers and killed in 2018. The ensuing civil lawsuit cost the city more than $3.7 million in attorneys fees, which doesn’t include the fnal settlement of $2.57 million which was paid to the family in February 2022.

Joseph Lopez

The second most expensive lawsuit of the last fve years has been the ongoing civil suit between the city and former Greensboro police ofcer Matthew Hamilton and Joe Lopez, on behalf of his son Joseph Lopez who was shot and killed by Hamilton in November 2021. The civil case was fled against the city and Hamilton in June 2022, and in the most recent update to the case, US District Court Judge Loretta Biggs denied Hamilton’s request to have the lawsuit dismissed. Biggs also denied Hamilton’s requests for qualifed immunity and public ofcial immunity. So far, the city has spent $127,873 in private attorney fees to defend Hamilton and the city.

A criminal case is also ongoing for Hamilton after he was indicted by a grand jury with the crime of manslaughter.

Zared Jones

Another case that has cost the city a signifcant amount of time and taxpayer’s dollars was the case involving Zared Jones, which stems from an incident in which Jones and his friends, who are Black, were harassed and Tased by Greensboro ofcers downtown in 2017. The case, which only wrapped up last year, totaled $106,261 in attorney’s fees. While the case against the city and ofcers was dismissed according to court records in July 2022, the case became notable for a back-and-forth confict between the city, the courts and the public on whether or not police body-camera footage could be released or discussed by city ofcials.

In June of this year, a Guilford County Superior Court judge agreed to lift a fve-yearold gag order on city council members that prevented them from commenting on the footage, as reported by the News & Record

Paulickia Jazzman Hairston

In 2019, Paulickia Jazzman Hairston was shot by a Greensboro police ofcer after police claimed Hairston intentionally drove the car towards police.

Hairston, who was 27 years old at the time, spent several days in the hospital due to the ensuing injuries, according to WFMY News 2. After she was released from the hospital, Hairston was booked into the county jail on a $500,000 bond which was eventually reduced to $20,000. According to court records, Hairston fled a civil suit against the ofcer involved, BK Talley, former police chiefs Wayne Scott and Brian James, private investigator Jerome Palmenteri, the city of Greensboro, Assistant District Attorney Robert Enochs and District Attorney Avery Crump in June 2022. In the initial complaint, Hairston argues that her constitutional rights were violated under the Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Thus far, the city has paid $103,952 in attorney fees in this ongoing civil suit.

Nasanto Crenshaw

In 2022, just three years after Hairston was shot by police, 17-year-old Nasanto Crenshaw was shot and killed by a Greensboro police ofcer after he, too, alleged that Crenshaw drove towards him and the ofcer feared for his life. As reported by TCB, body-camera and dash-cam footage that was released from the Aug. 21, 2022 incident earlier this year appears to contradict the police department’s assertion that Crenshaw was driving directly towards Ofcer Sletten when he shot and killed Crenshaw. Thus far, the city has paid $64,086 in attorney’s fees in the civil suit fled by Wakita Doriety, Crenshaw’s mother in March of this year. In July, a district judge dismissed the case against Sletten and the city of Greensboro. On Aug. 17, Doriety and her lawyers fled an appeal against the dismissal. The case is ongoing.

Levan LaForrest Sanders

In late November 2021, Levan LaForrest Sanders, who was 38 years old at the time, was arrested after being charged with shooting and killing Taha Abdalla Babeker, 54, of Greensboro, according to local reports. Sanders and three others were charged with multiple crimes including counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, frst degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon and accessory after the fact, according to WFMY News 2

Last year, Sanders fled to separate suits against the ofcer involved and an assistant district attorney for violating his civil rights. The case against the assistant district attorney was closed in October 2022 while the second case is ongoing. Thus far, the city has paid $3,084 in attorney’s fees in the latter case.

The city of Greensboro has paid more than $4 million in the last fve years to defend police ofcers who

‘Restorative Justice’

How the city of High Point is tackling the idea of reparations

by Sayaka Matsuoka | sayaka@triad-city-beat.com

Forty acres and a mule.

That’s what people initially think of when they hear the word “reparations.” That, or a one-time cash payment. But in the city of High Point, where the population is more than a third Black, city leaders and subject matter experts are reimagining what reparations could look like on a grander scale.

On Aug. 15, members of the One High Point Commission — a group made up of city leaders, researchers and citizens — gathered at the High Point Theater to present their report that has been 18 months in the making to a crowd of more than 100 attendees. At 245-pages long, the document is more than just a cursory look at the issues plaguing High Point’s Black community. It’s a strategic outline that delves into the city’s deep and complicated past and present while offering detailed suggestions for how to uplift the community as a whole into the future.

“The frst thing that I’m proud of is that we took on this challenge,” said High Point City Council Member Michael Holmes, who is on the commission. “Obviously, with a word like ‘reparations,’ it can be charged; it can be misunderstood. And we’ve faced it…. And ultimately, what we got to was a consensus that this was a necessary endeavor for the city to take on. And I think what we did was we found commonsense solutions that we will be able to take forward and implement that will be a great help to our citizens and ultimately to the city.”

Rather than reaching for a quick fx of cash payments, the commission, made up of 13 individuals, worked to come up with a number of what they call ‘restorative policy’ recommendations that will address six main areas: housing disparities, health inequities, education gaps, economic opportunity, transportation access and municipal operations. Other recommendations by the commission include apologizing for the historical treatment of Black people in High Point as well as creating a truth and reconciliation process.

According to the report, “One of the primary arguments in favor of racial reparations is the need to rectify the historical injustices that have contributed to the persistent racial wealth gap.”

The analysis of historical injustices, particularly along racial lines, has been an increasingly popular topic among communities across the country since the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Similar ideas have been popularized by academics like Nikole Hannah-Jones, whose 1619 Project, “reframe[s] the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of our national narrative,” as per the project’s website. This heightened attention to racial injustice and how the country can work to acknowledge and alleviate some of that harm has been met with loud resistance from some members of the GOP, including many who are running for president next year.

Former President Donald Trump has made the issue of critical race theory one of the scapegoats of his campaign while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has made the idea of thinking critically about race a nonstarter in his state. Despite this kind of contentious political landscape, the city of High Point managed to form a commission focused solely on reparations. Additionally, the recommendations, which were compiled by four subject-matter experts, were unanimously approved by the commission on Aug. 10. On Sept. 18, the report will be presented to High Point City Council which will then vote on whether or not to implement the recommendations into action.

“I love my state, I love my country and I wanted to participate in this commission because I want to see my community prosper, all segments of the community, and I wanted to lend my voice to that,” said Brenda Deets, a High Point resident and a commission member during the Aug. 15 public hearing. “The goal is not to divide our community but to improve it and improve it for all of our citizens in High Point.”

The city of High Point is the frst city in the Triad to tackle the idea of reparations.

CREATIVE COMMONS PHOTO

How did the idea of reparations get started in High Point?

The One High Point Commission was created by High Point City Council on Feb. 7, 2022 after members of the High Point NAACP pushed for the idea. The commission is composed of two city council members, nine High Point residents and two NAACP representatives.

According to the report, High Point is one of a handful of cities exploring the idea of reparations on the municipal level. Other cities including Asheville, St. Louis, Boston, Tallahassee, Fla. and Berkley, Calif.

“One key focus of these reparations programs has been to address economic mobility and wealth-building of Black people and communities,” the report states.

To that end, the commission worked for the past 18 months, meeting once a month to come up with their fndings and recommendations. The city of High Point is the frst city in the Triad to create a commission focused solely on exploring the idea of reparations.

What do the recommendations suggest?

Part of the guiding motto of the work of the commission has been a philosophy of “restorative justice,” which the panelists talked about at length during the public meeting.

Dr. Stephen Sills, the senior vice president of the Research, Policy and Impact Center and former director of the Center for Housing and Community Studies at UNCG noted at the public hearing how in the period after the Civil War, from the 1870s to the 1920s, there were thriving Black communities in this area. Freed slaves came together and purchased land, built homes and started successful businesses. But in the years following, racist policies in education, economics and housing all but demolished those communities.

“What restorative economic policies do is bring us back to that point where we have thriving Black communities,” Sills said. “Reparations on a cash basis on an individual basis might produce economic stability, but restorative economic policies create economic mobility into the middle class and into the upper class.”

As mentioned before, the six main areas of focus in the report include addressing housing disparities, health inequities, the education gap, economic opportunity, transportation access and reviewing and revising municipal operations. Every recommendation comes with an example from another municipality which could serve as a model.

On housing, the report recommends focusing on Black neighborhoods in the city that were demolished and “redeveloped” under Urban Renewal Programs. Urban renewal, which was authorized under the Housing Acts of 1949 and 1954, aimed to “clear slums, improve neighborhoods and provide cheap land to private developers,” according to the report. But in actuality, Black homes and businesses were demolished to create new parks, expand hospitals and extend highway systems. The end result meant the destruction of more than 425,000 housing units across the country, 80 percent of which were occupied by Black people. To mitigate the generational impact of urban renewal, the recommends the following:

• Creating a loan pool to support homeownership and affordable-housing construction

• Creating a program to assist existing homeowners in predominantly Black neighborhoods

• Providing fnancial support to nonprofts that assist low-to moderate-income property owners in resolving heirs’ property issues

• Creating a downpayment-assistance program for people with family connections to specifc neighborhoods

• Incentivizing the development of infll units and renovation of existing vacant units

• Creating incentives for contractors or developers who develop in areas impacted by urban renewal

• Creating a robust Fair Housing Assistance Program

On health inequities, the report puts the issues in plain wording: “High Point’s

predominantly African American neighborhoods highly correlate with the neighborhoods that have lower-than-average life expectancy.” To alleviate these effects, the report recommends the following:

• Partnering with public and private healthcare stakeholders to support sustained health interventions in neighborhoods that lack healthcare facilities

• Investing in lead abatement and indoor air-quality improvement in concentrated areas of poverty and specifc neighborhoods

• Promote community gardens

On education gaps, the report acknowledges that most actions are decided by the Guilford County School Board and Guilford County Commission but notes that the city itself can play an important role as well. To that end, the report recommends the following:

• Creating policies that incentivize new construction and rehabilitation of schools in Black neighborhoods

• Creating policies that incentivize comprehensive community development

• Facilitate the availability of convenient, affordable high-speed internet access

• On addressing economic mobility, the report recommends the following:

• Creating and expanding youth programs, with an emphasis on youth from target areas

• Creating a business microloan program to assist inexperience or low-wealth business owners to succeed

Support social enterprises and social entrepreneurs through seed funding

On transportation access, the report recommends affordable, convenient and readily available access. To that end, the recommendations are as follows:

• Identifying and implementing improvements in public transportation

• Expanding routes and hours for public transportation

Lastly, the report recommends the city review and revise its own municipal operations. “The City of High Point’s own ofcial records confrm that discrimination against African Americans by the city government was common practice,” the report states. Along those lines, the recommendations are as follows: Engaging an experienced and qualifed frm to analyze current municipal policies and practices

Instituting an organizational program to correct systemic bias

As evidenced by the lengthy report, the panelists reiterated the fact that the recommendations aren’t things that can take place in the short-term.

Rather, to make lasting, sustainable changes in the city, buy-in from all aspects of the community, from city leaders, to business owners, to the citizens themselves, will be key.

“This is the genesis of the work,” Holmes said. “What we’ll have to do is look at how this will be phased in over the next three, fve, 10 years. This is not something that you can reverse, historical, racially concentrated areas of poverty can’t be reversed in a single term or a four-year span. So the plan is for us to marshal all the resources that exist in our society… and bring all those folks to the table to be able to execute this plan.”

What’s the response been like?

Members of the public who attended the session seemed excited about the commission’s work and the fnal report.

“I wasn’t sure where they were coming from or what the idea was going to be,” said Black resident Khristin Brooks. “Generally, when people think about reparations, it is all about money. But it seems that this is defnitely more well thought out. It’s not just let me put a check in your hand. It’s, ‘Let me actually give you things that will continue to build.’ So, I really love the idea that I heard of restorative reparations.”

Father Rob Davis of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, a white attendee, said that he found the panel and the idea of the commission “bold and courageous.”

“I was surprised at the boldness of a city in North Carolina taking this on in this way,” said Davis, who has lived in High Point since last fall. “I came from Rhode Island which is a very progressive state and yet nobody was talking about this on an actual

On Sept. 18, the report will be presented to High Point City Council which will then vote on whether or not to implement the recommendations into action. Learn more at highpointnc.gov.

municipal level up there.”

As the pastor for a predominantly white congregation, Davis said that hearing the work of the commission has been helpful and aligns well with the mission of his church.

“I hope that people actually take time to read it and then in reading it, people will be inspired to take action in supporting the community,” he said.

Guilford County Commissioner Carlvena Foster, a Democrat who has served on the board since 2014, told TCB that she never expected to see a reparations commission in her hometown during her lifetime.

“I grew up during segregation where whatever came your way is what you expected, you know?” Foster said. “I’m used to the Black water fountain and the white water fountain and the differences and it was typically a way of life for us.”

As a county commissioner, Foster noted that other cities like Greensboro, could also implement a commission like High Point did.

“It can be replicated in other cities in the Triad and outside of the Triad,” she said. “When people think of reparations they don’t always understand. The frst thing that comes to mind is 40 acres and a mule but we know that’s not what we’re talking about this day and time…. It is how we change systems to perpetuate success among people. It’s all systematic at this point.”

Seeing the strong turnout and the diversity of the crowd in terms of age and race has Foster, a lifelong resident of High Point, excited and hopeful.

“I think High Point is trying very hard to change the thinking and change the culture of the city to be inclusive and diverse,” she said.

What’s next?

In the conclusion section of the report, the authors outline a set of beliefs that commission members coalesced around during their work.

“1. The impacts of racially codifed slavery, Jim Crow, and governmentsanctioned racial discrimination are real, pervasive, and long-lasting.

2. The present-day racially identifable disparities between Black and White Americans in wealth, health, and education can be directly tied and attributed to systemic racism.

3. It is appropriate and necessary for the progress of the City of High Point that past and present racial divisions and discrimination be researched, documented, widely shared, and addressed.

4. Citizen participation and transparency are essential to a successful and sustainable process.”

The last point is the one that panel members emphasized at the end of their discussion on Aug. 15.

“This can be seen as sort of an infection point, a turning point,” said Dr. Omar Ali, dean of the Lloyd International Honors College and Professor of Global African Diaspora at UNCG. “That can go in one direction or might go in a different direction. There was enough political will to get us to this point and the commissioner’s work, the council, the members of the community that were doing the work, and the NAACP leaders, there were a lot of people that made this possible. But there’s no guarantee that it will come to anything in particular. I think it’s really worth us to put on the pressure and carry out what the vision is here.

“It’s not like things are just going to happen by themselves…,” Ali continued. “[Y]ou all play a critical role in operationalizing this. It can’t just be the commission and city council doing this. I delegate you all, I deputize you all….”

To make the report a reality, Dr. Sills implored the community to stay involved.

“It really requires a bottom-up approach,” Sills said. “It requires citizens and residents to be engaged.”

He mentioned participating in community meetings and future surveys, sharing the information with neighbors and family and posting on social media. He also encouraged residents to hold stakeholders like politicians, nonprofts and other community organizations accountable throughout the process.

“Holding them… to the fre,” he said. to make sure that this isn’t just a plan that stays on a shelf, but an action plan that gets engaged across the board.”

OPINION

High Point rising…

e’ve been reporting on the city of High Point’s discussions of reparations for Black folks who have historically been crushed under the city’s heel. The plan addresses housing disparities, health inequities, the education gap, economic opportunity and transportation access, and reviews and revises municipal operations to make them more equitable.

by Brian Clarey

Reparations are long overdue everywhere in this country, which was founded and built on free slave labor. But longtime High Point watchers might be surprised that the Furniture City is the frst in the Triad to begin fguring out what reparations might look like.

High Point is far from the most progressive city in the Triad. This is the city that in 2014, declined to name a street for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Urban planning deliberately separated Washington Street, High Point’s Black epicenter, from the rest of the city after the Civil Rights Act passed, effectively shuttering 150 Black-owned businesses

The city’s frst Black Mayor, Bernita Sims, was forced to resign after being charged with writing a bad check.

And we must recount here the case

Wof Al Heggins, who in 2015 was High Point’s human relations director — that is, until she ran afoul of the High Point Police Department after initiating a series of forums to discuss police-community relations, and was verbally reprimanded for using the term “white supremacy” in the city. She also had discrimination complaint on fle against the city with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Heggins was fred by mail, after which the city disbanded the 13-member board of the Human Relations Commission and enacted nine new members. This initiated another EEOC complaint

We have detailed reporting on all of this, including a recording of her dismissal hearing

All this is not to come down on High Point so much as to say that if High Point is looking at reparations, the rest of us cannot be too far behind.

Heggins, by the way, bounced back from her experience in High Point to become the frst Black member of Salisbury City Council in 2016, then the city’s frst Black mayor in 2017. At the time, Salisbury’s mayor was an appointed post, generally given to the candidate who won the most votes in the prior year’s election. After Heggins’ tenure, they changed the rules to make mayor an elected post. Heggins lost her 2021 reelection bid to Karen Alexander, a white woman, by 18 votes

Reparations are long overdue everywhere in this country, which was founded and built on free slave labor.

the

Dream Kreams

Winston-Salem ice cream pop-up ofers sweet relief from the summer heat

by Kaitlynn Havens | kaitlynn@triad-city-beat.com

The temperature gauge haphazardly glued to the back of the brick-walled sidewalk outside of the Cobblestone Farmers Market registers over 92 degrees, the precise temperature covered by humidity droplets that have clouded the inside of the aged scale. Market patrons search for reprieve under vendor tents, eyeing the season’s tomatoes and peppers while escaping a tenacious summer sun. Their kids run around a makeshift splash pad — a hose with holes drilled into it — pretending for a moment that the ground isn’t steaming but that they’ve discovered a tropical lagoon. In the corner of the market, a white tent stands apart as a beacon of cooling hope. Across the top of the tent written in swirls of bubblegum pink and celestial blue are the words “ICE CREAM.” Within, a cooler flled with Dream Kreams ice cream offers a summer’s consolation waiting for each person that passes by.

Dream Kreams is a Black woman-owned, artisanal ice cream pop-up that specializes in unique favor options, fresh ingredients and a variety of dairy and non-dairy options, as well as plain and alcohol-infused ice creams. Kyndra Bell, owner of Dream Kreams, stumbled into ice cream making by mere happenstance.

“I love to cook,” she laughs, “and most of the time when I go out, I end up being like, ‘I could have made this at home.’”

On a whim, Bell decided to give ice cream a try.

“It was a mason jar and a few ingredients I had at home,” she says. “I shook it up and put it in my freezer. It was so good.”.

Bell began to test different favor combinations and eventually bought a wooden ice cream maker. Her frst favor, made in her mom’s kitchen, was a blend of almond and amaretto.

A few years ago, Bell was working at a bank in WinstonSalem, where she took orders from friends and co-workers for her concoctions. She found herself spending more time outside of work creating favors and flling orders than she spent at the actual bank.

“I said, ‘You know what, if I can get all these orders just from co-workers, it’s time to leave [the bank] alone.’ I just walked away,” she explains.

That was 2019.

Since then, Dream Kreams has become Bell’s full-time passion.

Although many of her original favors continue to be crowd favorites, Bell uses travel and her own grocery shopping experiences as inspiration for new and innovative favors.

“I’ve had pistachio ice cream from the grocery store once and I didn’t like it. So I

said, I’m going to make this better.’ I used pistachio favoring and combined it with a marshmallow swirl — it’s honestly my favorite right now,” she says.

“I went to Puerto Rico a few years ago and tried plantains,” Bell says of her travels. “But plantains are savory, and I didn’t want to make a savory ice cream. The drink of Puerto Rico is the piña colada, and I thought, How do I mix these favors?”

Out of that trip came one of Bell’s most favorful ice creams, the Puerto Rican Summer, a mix of plantains, piña colada and rum.

The alcohol-infused ice creams include her original, Almond Amaretto, with new additions like Caramel Apple infused with Crown Apple , and her most recent favor Coquito (infused with the same Puerto Rican rum used in Puerto Rican Summer).

“I wouldn’t say you’re getting tipsy,” she jokes, “but you feel good. If I add too much, the ice cream won’t freeze.”

In addition to her boozy creations, Bell offers non-dairy options for each favor. Washington Perk, a coffee shop and convenience store located in downtown WinstonSalem, currently offers six of her non-dairy favors by the scoop.

Bell’s vegan-friendly selection caught the eye of social media personality and vegan

“

“ I want my ice cream to be an experience.

Kyndra Bell of Dream Kreams sells her flavorful ice cream at the Cobblestone Farmers Market in Winston-Salem.

PHOTO BY KAITLYNN HAVENS

comfort food afcionado Tabitha Brown during her visit to orth Carolina in 2022.

“That’s good!” Brown can be seen saying as she’s eating a cup of Almond Amaretto, pointing to Bell and doing a little dance in a video posted to Dream Kreams’ Instagram.

The reactionary happy-dance doesn’t feel so distant when sampling Dream Kream’s Banana Pudding ice cream. Firm chunks of vanilla wafers break up the creamy, vanillatinted ice cream, a slice of banana still intact to complete the nostalgic taste.

When asked whether owning an ice cream storefront is in her future, Bell shakes her head and says, “I feel like a brick-and-mortar would just tie me down. Maybe a trailer or a food truck, but right now this is where I’m at.”

Dream Kreams can be found throughout the week at several parks, farmers markets and breweries in the Triad.

The sun continues its onslaught during the Wednesday night market as the line at Dream Kreams grows.

“I want people to remember the ice cream,” Bell explains. “The way it smells, the way you feel. If it reminds you of a place you’ve been or a memory from your childhood. I want my ice cream to be an experience.”

Follow Dream Kreams on Instagram @dreamkreams for updates on weekly events and locations.

The white-chocolate Oreo is one of Dream Kreams signature flavors.

PHOTO BY KAITLYNN HAVENS

Nightblooms

Sam Logan’s musical trilogy provides a cathartic soundtrack to the apocalypse

by Sayaka Matsuoka | sayaka@triad-city-beat.com

What does an apocalypse even look like?

Movies and TV shows would tell you that they’re marked by widespread, simultaneous, catastrophic destruction of whole cities, breakdown of communication and perhaps even an unfriendly undead or two.

But what about a slow decline into madness? A creeping, almost mundane sort of descent into the end of the world? One in which singular events take place with relative frequency but also so disjointedly that the decline isn’t registered as a single boom? And what, if this were a movie, would the soundtrack to that kind of annihilation sound like?

Enter ightblooms.

“There’s that old Southern expression about, ‘a teaspoon of honey to make the vinegar go down’ kind of thing, and that’s really what I started to realize,” says Sam Logan, the creative mind behind ightblooms, the musician’s latest, and most personal, project. “I think it’s easier to get people to think about and talk about really tough subjects if you present it in a way that is inviting and warm.”

The four songs on ightblooms’ forthcoming EP, Night Blooms in the Apocalypse, came to Logan, who hails from the Triangle, during the early weeks of the pandemic. While in past bands Logan tended to use loud thumping bass lines and more metaphoric lyrics, this time he opted to pour more of his own personal feelings into the verses, into the sound.

An upbeat repeating guitar line meets the sweet slides of a lap-steel guitar as Logan’s tenor voice breaks through the rhythm.

Awake in the night and the room is one fre I just held closer to you Catching my breath as I cling to my bed Is this nightmare coming true?

The opening lyrics to “Matters of Time,” the EP’s frst single, currently available via streaming, stem from Logan’s own experiences during the pandemic.

“It just felt like a good time to be vulnerable so I just let myself do that as best I could,” Logan says. “Writing about having panic attacks and writing about climate change and writing about, you know, my own struggles with self acceptance and insecurity. All the things that I would have put several layers of ironic distance on in other music, this was just like, ‘I’m just gonna say the that are coming to my head.’”

Night Blooms in the Apocalypse is the frst of a trilogy of EPs that will be released in the next year, according to Logan. The other two — Love Songs for the Apocalypse and Free Time in the Apocalypse — will be released in early and summer 2024, respectively.

Despite the heavy narratives of each of the songs on Night Blooms in the Apocalypse, the brighter sonic elements move the listeners through each story. “Hymns for the Hopeless,” my personal favorite, tackles Logan’s push and pull away from organized religion and his struggle with fnding solace in an increasingly hostile world without the use of prayer. (Logan has offered TCB an exclusive premiere of the track to be streamed on our website.)

If I close my eyes and give into the love divine

Will I fnd some place out beyond the whispering pines?

Is it something real you could show to me?

Sam Logan’s sound shifted a bit after he started experimenting with music again during the pandemic.

PHOTO BY ANNA MAYNARD

Come turn me inside out and then we can begin Will I learn to follow? Will I learn to be alright?

Despite this deeply personal output from Logan, the musician touches on universal pain points that many in society currently grapple with, particularly millennials and Zoomers who constantly make jokes about un-aliving ourselves and struggle with living in what seems to be an ever-evolving hellscape.

“That dissonance is such a part of the modern condition,” Logan says. “You go from one disaster to another, but yet you still have to fnd time to make dinner, still have to fnd time to send some emails, you still have to fnd time to mow the grass.”

It’s something that Logan grapples with as an artist who has a separate full-time job, too. This idea of creating art that may not seem all that productive on the surface.

Night Blooms in the Apocalypse will be released via Sleepy Cat Records on Sept. 1 and will be accompanied by local merch collaborations.

based musician who performs both solo and as part of the House of Fools. Having a place like the Flat Iron to perform music is a big step for Greensboro, Logan says. He points to how Raleigh alone has several different venues that allows for festivals like Hopscotch to continue to thrive in the area. Greensboro, on the other hand, had a musical identity that was tied to closely-knit house shows or playing at local breweries. There wasn’t much of an in-between. ow, with King at the helm, Flat Iron is carving out a special place for local musicians in Greensboro, Logan says.

A TCB-exclusive premiere of “Hymns for the Hopeless” is available to stream on our site. A release party takes place on Oct. 7. at the Flat Iron. Learn more at nightbloomsnc.com or follow them on Instagram at @nightbloomsnc.

“There’s a constant struggle with feeling like art is a really selfsh act,” Logan. “ Like, I’m doing this and I’m creating something I enjoy, but what good does it bring to anybody?’ But trying to bring something good into this world is a worthwhile endeavor…. I’ve stopped trying to ascribe more meaning to it other than bringing something that might distract for a little while and bring some level of comfort but also make you feel like you’re not alone.”

Part of Logan’s journey in forming ight Blooms was his transition from living in the Triangle where his musical career began, to settling down in Greensboro where he’s been since 2015. At the time, the music scene in both areas were drastically different, with many of the popular bands opting for the Triangle’s robust community over anywhere in the Triad. But in the last few years, that’s begun to change, Logan says.

In October, Night Blooms in the Apocalypse will host a release party at the Flat Iron, which has in the last year come under new ownership via Josh King, a Greensboro-

“I felt like he and [his wife] Abbey are making investments in giving Greensboro a proper local music venue,” he says. “To have that in Greensboro is a big point of pride for me, and the city as well…. I think people, like I did eight or nine years ago, had a very set perception of what Greensboro is and who’s here and what it values, and I think it’s really grown in the last couple of years.

“ ow that we have a place that is ours and is nurturing talent and saying, ‘This is what Greensboro’s music scene is,’ we just need to support it,” Logan adds.

After the past few years, being able to perform his music to a live audience is something that Logan doesn’t take for granted. Having created most of the music for ight Blooms in the solitary confnes of pandemic life, Logan wants the EP to be a comforting salve for the current state of society, a love letter to anyone who feels lost. Something to be shared, he says. Sure, his lyrics may be a little sad, but he hopes that it’s at least enjoyable enough to let people connect and maybe even dance a little.

“I think that’s the greatest thing that art can do is make you feel like you’re not alone and make you feel like you’re not the only one feeling something,” he says. “You gotta have some sort of hope in the world. That’s where the dark topic with bright music comes back into it. Yes, it’s heavy, but at least you’re getting something fun out of it.”

SHOT IN THE TRIAD

BY CAROLYN DE BERRY

Ted Johnson Parkway, Greensboro

Evening landing at PTI.

PUZZLES & GAMES

Across

4. Overshadow, in a way

CROSSWORD SUDOKU

1. Formally renounce

7. “Supposing unavailability ...”

5. 401(k) alternative named for a senator

6. Tennis partners?

by Matt Jones

14. Apply messily, as sunscreen

15. 2015 crime film with Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro

16. Blue Ribbon beers

17. Parent’s much cooler kid-spoiling sibling, maybe

18. “All in the Family” character

19. Venti or XXL, e.g.

20. “___ dead, Jim”

21. Go without being played, at the end of some board games

25. Happy expression

26. Give the appearance of

30. Garment parents want to make sure their kids always have on, lest they be embarrassed

34. “But what ___ know?”

35. Neither partner

36. Music genre that asks you to “pick it up pick it up”

37. Cartoon title character seen with Diamond, Amethyst, and Pearl

44. Chinese laptop brand

45. Ireland, on old coins

46. Big company in 19th-century communications

52. Andrews or Maxwell, for short

55. Notable periods

56. AC___ (auto parts manufacturer)

57. Frank Zappa’s daughter

60. Character that visits Owl

61. Back, as a candidate

62. Remington played by Pierce Brosnan

63. Confounded

64. Martinez and Pascal, for two

Down

1. “___ your instructions ...”

2. Piece of grass

7. Japanese car brand that somehow gets a long vowel in Australian ads

8. Maneuver delicately

9. “ER” setting

10. What an opener opens

11. Foot support

12. River at Khartoum

13. Water testers

17. “Jaws” sighting

19. Bush Sr.’s chief of staff John

22. “Ladders to Fire” novelist Anais

23. Mountain suffix

24. “Do the ___” (soft drink slogan)

27. Untidiness

28. Point of view

29. Singer Rita

30. Dove shelter

31. A property may have one on it

32. Prefix with fiction

33. Hand towel users

34. Broadband initials

38. Wedding promise

39. Penultimate day

40. What gibberish makes

41. Diesel of “Guardians of the Galaxy”

42. Knowledgeable

43. Went back (on)

47. Put in the effort

48. Do a mukbang, e.g.

49. Not as healthy

50. Sponge by 3M

51. “10/10, no ___”

52. Iowa State’s location

53. Garamond, for one

54. Word before builder or pillow

58. ___ de plume

59. Debunked spoon bender Geller

60. Handheld Sony console of the mid-2000s

by Matt Jones

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

3. “The Girl From Ipanema” composer Antonio Carlos ___

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS:

‘Convent-ional Wisdom’ — six across answers hide a figure.

© 2023 Matt Jones

Community Table 2023

Join Triad Local First on Sunday, October 8th for Blue Jeans, Bourbon, and the Blues!

Sunday, October 8th from 4:30pm to 9:30pm at The Gardens at Gray Gables

Dancing | Food | Silent Auction

Cigars | Bourbon Tastings

Music by Mama and the Ruckus, Chef is Brian Dicey of Starmount Country Club, Cigars by Silver Smoke

Join us as we celebrate local chefs, farmers, breweries, wineries, distilleries and all things food and drink! In addition to partaking in some delicious, seasonal, fresh, local foods and beverages you will be supporting those in the Triad food-beverage industry.

Tickets on sale now at triadlocalfrst.org