Queen City Nerve - April 21, 2021

VOLUME 3, ISSUE 11; APRIL 21 -MAY 4, 2021; WWW.QCNERVE.COM

A SMALL CRAWL THROUGH THE MOST HATED NEIGHBORHOOD IN CHARLOTTE

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PUBLISHER

JUSTIN LAFRANCOIS jl afra n co i s @ q cn er ve.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RYAN PITKIN rpi tk i n @ q cn e r ve. c om

ART DIRECTOR

JAYME JOHNSON jjo h n s o n @ q cn e r ve.com

STAFF WRITER

PAT MORAN pm o ra n @ q cn er ve . com

DIGITAL EDITOR LEA BEKELE l be ke l e @ q cn er ve . com

AD SALES EXECUTIVE RENN WILSON r wi l s o n @ q cn e r ve . com

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

NEWS& OPINION 8

5 EDITOR’S NOTE BY RYAN PITKIN 6 A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE BY RYAN PITKIN

Debate heats up over who gets to reuse the historic Morgan School

Let’s Keep it up.

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we’re not done yet.

NO TIME TO WASTE BY LIZ LOGAN Doubts and delays hindered Mary Collins murder investigation

ARTS

10 A COURT CASE REVISITED BY LEA BEKELE ‘Inherit the Land’ documentary tells a local tale lost to time

MUSIC

11 ACROSS THE UNIVERSE BY PAT MORAN A whirlwind globetrotting journey ends with the formation of Space Ballet

12 HOPS, SKIP AND A JUMP A map of Charlotte-area breweries to help you crawl before you walk 14 BOOZIN’ ON A BUDGET HITS SOUTH END A small crawl through Charlotte’s most hated neighborhood 18 BEHIND THE CURTAIN BY TODD BOWMAN Fresh off a pandemic pivot, Legion Brewing doubles down with ambitious expansion

LIFESTYLE

20 LIFEWAVE 21 PUZZLES 22 AERIN IT OUT BY AERIN SPRUILL 22 HOROSCOPE 23 SAVAGE LOVE

THANKS TO OUR CONTRIBUTORS: PAT MORAN, LEA

Thank you for doing the work to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Until enough of us are protected by the vaccine, we need to keep protecting each other.

BEKELE, LIZ LOGAN, TODD BOWMAN, A SMALL CRAWL THROUGH THE MOST HATED NEIGHBORHOOD IN CHARLOTTE

covid19.ncdhhs.gov

FOOD& DRINK

Beer Issue 2021

LEGION BREWING LEVELS UP PG. 16 MAPPING OUT LOCAL BREWERIES PG. 12

COVER DESIGN BY: JAYME JOHNSON

GRANT BALDWIN, ASHLEY T. HUGHES, AERIN SPRUILL, ERICK LOTTARY, AND DAN SAVAGE.

EDITOR’S NOTE

IT’S ABOUT RESPECT

Longtime Cherry residents refuse to be ignored

BY RYAN PITKIN

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Barbara Rainey has seen a lot of change in Cherry over her 70 years.

Having lived the first 33 years of her life on a house on Cherry Street, then the next 37 on nearby Baldwin Avenue, Rainey looks back to a time when her mother and aunt lived in a duplex and she could hop the banister to visit between the two, then walk up the street to her grandmother’s house. Though her grandmother has passed on and one of her brothers has been displaced, she still has plenty of family in the historically Black neighborhood.

Rainey’s aunt, Virginia Bynum, is 93 years old, and like Rainey, a proud member of the Cherry Community Organization (CCO), a community development corporation that formed in 1977 to fight gentrification

and displacement in light of the recent razing of their neighbors in Brooklyn. CCO operates as a land trust of sorts, buying and managing properties to keep housing affordable for longtime tenants.

Rainey knows that, despite CCO’s efforts, change is occurring in Cherry. New neighbors are moving in and having an impact on the neighborhood — many of them white and more well off than the established families who have lived there for generations.

“We know change is gon’ come, but it’s how you make the change come about,” Rainey told me on a recent Sunday afternoon. “Some people feel privileged or entitled because of income bracket or what your home cost or that sort of thing. I own my little cracker box and I love it, and every morning I wake up I thank God that I’m where I want to be. People all over Charlotte, they’re not happy where they are, and I couldn’t be happier to be around these people.”

Rainey was referring to the 15 or so neighbors who had gathered that day in Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in the heart of Cherry. They were there to discuss their recent fight to “reclaim Morgan School,” the nearly 100-year-old school building that sits across Cherry Park from the church.

The group is pushing back against a new plan

by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to lease the building, which has sat empty since 2017, to local

youth arts organization Arts+. CCO would like to claim the building for itself and run its own learning and resource center out of it. The organization has been pushing to reclaim Morgan School since the late 1970s, they say, and old news articles confirm that the efforts go back at least 36 years to 1984.

I go deeper into that specific debate in this week’s news feature, but one thing I noticed while reporting on the story was how the fight over Morgan School is about more than Arts+. In fact, just about everyone involved agrees that Arts+ is a great organization. The fight is about respect.

While CCO is serious in its decades-long efforts to purchase Morgan School and make it a center run by the community, for the community those efforts are inspired by a larger feeling of ongoing disrespect — disrespect from CMS, disrespect from city and county leaders, disrespect from gentrifying neighbors.

In Rainey’s description of her new neighbors’ behavior, it becomes clear how small actions that may seem like simple things are impactful microaggressions that longtime residents won’t stand for.

“To have people bring their animals in your yard to do what they do. I can kind of get past it if they pick it up, but the ones who don’t, to me that’s total disrespect, and I’ve never seen so much of it in my

life,” Rainey told me. “There’s so much disrespect ... just feeling like what we think doesn’t matter.”

In the 40 minutes we spent in that church basement before crossing the park to the school, CCO members uttered the words “respect” or “disrespect” a total of 13 times. It’s an ongoing theme that has driven the organization to stand up for each other ever since Yvonne Bittle, who was there that Sunday, and other Cherry parents came together to buy a bus for their children to get to their newly assigned schools after Morgan School closed in 1968, marking the informal beginning of what would become the Cherry Community Organization.

For Rainey, the fight for respect in their own community is one she wishes she could leave behind, but refuses to do so until she feels comfortable knowing the youth of Cherry won’t be disrespected either.

“If we could just live in peace, not always fighting, fighting, fighting. When is enough enough?” Rainey exclaimed. “We have taken a lot as a people … but it’s the way you do things and how you respect people … It’s how you go about making that change. Don’t walk over people. That’s disrespect.”

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

of Chicago student who has become active with CCO a vision for 30 years for the school, which is why What’s the plan? while attending school remotely from Charlotte. we’re asking for the school,” Bittle-Patton said. “Arts Proponents of the Arts+ deal say it’s a win-win, Them and the others in the room, some of whom can be one part of that, but arts is not all of that. We providing Cherry youth with a new arts resource had lived in Cherry for anywhere between 70 and 93 think about the ability of what that school can do and allowing Arts+ to upfit the crumbling facility. years, had gathered to discuss their latest mission and how it can serve our community, and I mean all CCO, however, says the deal is just another example — though one that they’ve been at for some time: of our community … We can make it, conceivably, of Cherry residents being told what they need by reclaiming Morgan School. a 21st-century community learning and resource outsiders, then ignored when they object.

Debate heats up over who The historic 10-classroom school building has center.”

There’s one thing people on both sides of gets to reuse the historic sat vacant since Community Charter School left in Officials with CMS and the county say CCO hasn’t the issue seem to agree on: that Arts+ is a good Morgan School June 2017. Recent news that the building’s owner, come to the table with a proposal. Organizers with organization that has a positive impact on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, is planning to lease CCO claim that, until the Arts+ deal was made community.

BY RYAN PITKIN the space to local youth arts organization Arts+ public in January, they were told repeatedly by CMS Over more than 50 years, Arts+ has been has created a rift in the community, with Cherry that there was a moratorium on any new actions working to expand arts accessibility to children Founders of the Cherry Community Organization Community Organization claiming to have been left involving the Morgan School. of all ages, races and socioeconomic backgrounds began organizing in 1969 after the neighborhood’s out of any talks regarding its new use.

Before that, Bittle-Patton said CCO had the through music and visual arts Morgan School was closed instruction, offering private and its students were “bused” and group music lessons, visual to Myers Park, Elizabeth and art classes and workshops, Eastover elementary schools. summer camps, early childhood There was just one thing missing art education and the Charlotte from this busing plan: the bus.

Children’s Choir, among other Children living in Cherry programs, according to Devlin were expected to walk to their McNeil, president and executive assigned schools, so local director of Arts+. parents chipped in and bought Arts+ hopes to use Morgan a bus, calling it the Blue Goose, School as a home for Project and took turns driving the Harmony, its free orchestra children to their respective program that serves 2nd-5thschools. grade students; and Studio Over the next decade, 345, a free digital arts program this group of community offered to all Mecklenburg high organizers continued to fight school students. The school for their neighborhood, which would also be the site for Arts+ was platted by John Myers in summer camps serving kids of 1891 to serve as a home for all ages.

Black workers. The residents According to CMS Board had watched so-called “urban of Education District 4 renewal” policies level Brooklyn, representative Carol Sawyer, which bordered Cherry to the Arts+ approached CMS about northwest, and they didn’t want PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN potentially leasing the Morgan MEMBERS OF THE CHERRY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION OUTSIDE OF MORGAN SCHOOL. to see the same fate for their School as a new home after community. reconstruction at the Uptown Charlotte Mecklenburg In 1977, the Cherry Community Organization The organization wants to open a learning blessing of previous CMS superintendents Ann Clark Library location forced the organization from its (CCO) filed their articles of incorporation with the resource center in the building for all Cherry and Dr. Clayton Wilcox, but were repeatedly stymied home in Spirit Square across the street. state as a nonprofit organization, and two years residents, and they’ve been fighting this fight by some unknown party within CMS before a deal Under the proposed lease, Arts+ will not pay a later received 501c3 tax-exempt status. since the early 1980s at least, judging by an article could come to fruition. monthly rent, but will be responsible for all upkeep Sitting in a meeting room with about 15 CCO archived by Dr. Biddle-Patton in which the late Jim “Our efforts are on record, our efforts are of the facility throughout the 10-year duration of members in Cherry’s Pleasant Hill Baptist Church on Ross scolds the city for reneging on a promise to documented,” Bittle-Patton said. “We have never, the lease. The organization will also invest $1.2 a recent Sunday afternoon, it was plain to see how return Morgan School to the community. ever ceased in saying to CMS, ‘We want to reclaim million in upfitting the building and bringing it up those roots still run deep with the organization.

CCO has recently launched its eight-point the Morgan School for Cherry.’ This is not something to current standards.

Present that day were Yvonne Bittle, the last living plan for the school alongside a petition calling for new. This is something we’ve been doing now for Sawyer said the moratorium CCO leaders co-founder of the Cherry Community Organization; community support. All of which can be found at almost 35 years and we are just not wavering on referred to only applied to the sale of buildings, her daughter Dr. Sylvia Bittle-Patton, one of the thehistoriccherry.com. this.” but the lease proposal from Arts+ fit well with CMS students who rode the Blue Goose back in 1969; and “We have a vision for that school and we’ve had goals.

Sylvia’s son Mylon Patton, a 20-year-old University

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A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE

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NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

The board voted to table the matter until computers, they want to learn financial literacy. county manager Dena Diorio could mediate more There is a restriction on the deed, we can find communication between the opposing sides in something to do that’s consistent with the deed.”

“I think it’s a tremendous win for the community hopes that they will find a way to compromise and According to state statute, any building that CMS and for the youth of the community to have that arts potentially collaborate. It’s expected to return to the sells has to be sold at full market value. It cannot be resource right there,” Sawyer said. “Arts+ has done commissioners for a vote and discussion in May. gifted or sold at a discount, regardless of what good some amazing programs pairing adults and youth. cause it might serve.

Hannah Hasan just did a storytelling program where CCO is no stranger to real estate dealings. The What’s in a deal? she paired elected officials and other community group isn’t just any old neighborhood association, it There are multiple state statutes and land deeds leaders with youth to create these joint stories, was one of Charlotte’s first community development at play that need to be taken into consideration with so there are tremendous possibilities of pairing corporations. That means the organization owns and any deal involving Morgan School. community youth with the seniors in the community First, according to a land deed dating back at manages properties in the neighborhood, ensuring to collect stories and build on that. It strikes me as least to the 1930s, the building must be used for that homes stay affordable so residents can live something that would be a natural fit.”

McNeil agreed, stating that Arts+ would like to build dialogue with community leaders to “hear their specific wants and needs for the building,” then eventually hold community events and festivals at the property and offer financial assistance to help community members access arts education.

“Arts+ sees this as just the beginning of a relationship built on inclusivity and reverence for the historic neighborhood, one that celebrates the intentional adaptive reuse of a significant building,” McNeil said.

Some don’t see it that way.

“What goes inside [Morgan School] will be something that will benefit the community itself, and we’ll be working with the community to determine what are the needs,” Bittle-Patton said.

“It’s about asset mapping and needs assessment, not having a program come in and say to us, ‘We’ll try to fit you in.’ Art can be a part of it, but Morgan MORGAN SCHOOL OPENED IN 1925 AND CLOSED IN 1968. IT’S BEEN UNUSED SINCE 2017. PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN School is so much more than arts.”

At an April 6 Mecklenburg Board of County educational purposes. Since its closing in 1968, the out their lives there without worrying about being Commissioners (BOCC) meeting, the board had building has been used as a night school for adults, priced out or displaced. planned to vote on right to refusal for the Morgan CCO currently manages 15 properties in Cherry, then a school for teenage parents, then a behavioral School deal, giving them veto power over the deal, modification school. It’s even been used for a short and that number is only as low as it is now because in a way. The board was expected to pass on that time as a training ground for police K9 units, though of a deal in which the organization was taken power and allow the deal to go through, until CCO’s because they were K9 units with the CMS Police advantage of in 2007. pleas to their representative Mark Jerrell led him to Around that time, a man representing a littleDepartment, that counts under the umbrella of an ask for more time. known company bought a majority of the properties educational institution.

“As we look at this issue, what we’re faced with under CCO’s care with promises to rebuild 16 According to Bittle-Patton, the CCO is looking tonight is one of equity, opportunity and respect,” affordable housing units. He then displaced the folks into historic records to flesh out whether, with all Jerrell said. “The county has been placed in a the different members of the Myers families who at living there and flipped the properties to the highest difficult position: essentially being asked to unring some time or another owned parcels of the Morgan bidder. The lots are now home to extravagant a bell that we had no part of. This issue has divided Saussy Burbank houses, the most visible signs of School property, that deed still applies. a community. Most of us would agree that Arts+ For the most part, however, the organization is gentrification in a high-demand neighborhood adds tremendous value to the community, but the that’s long struggled to keep generational residents OK with the deed restrictions.

Morgan School and what it represents is essentially “We’ve got kids, but we also have seniors in paying affordable rates. a microcosm and a symbol of public issues that CCO took the house flipper to court, and in our community, and they would absolutely love to essentially promote and perpetuate a system of 2018 the organization was awarded a settlement have some night classes. They would also like some inequality and racism, frankly, and whether it’s worth more than $7 million after a judge ruled that science, technology, engineering and math. People intentional or not, it appears to me that that is the the deal was made through unfair and deceptive can always learn,” she said. “They want to learn outcome.”

practices. Despite the court victory, CCO lost many of its properties. It’s clear that the experience played a role in how organizers view outsiders coming in to make deals involving local properties.

“We lost that amount of real estate. We don’t get that land back,” said Bittle-Patton. “You can’t unring that bell. We have individuals who have been displaced as a result of that deal that should have never happened in the first place … We have generations of families that were displaced as a result of this. So this is a fight that’s ongoing, and we’re just aware of it and we want the community to be aware of it.”

Another state statute has been brought up as a positive for CCO, though they don’t quite see it that way.

The longest lease CMS can offer on one of its properties is 10 years, and that’s what’s planned for the Arts+ deal. Some have said CCO should take those 10 years to run a capital campaign and put together a plan to purchase Morgan School outright.

At the April 6 BOCC meeting, at-large representative Pat Cotham stood strongest against the CCO’s claims that they had been left out of the discussion, claiming that they were simply opposing the Arts+ plan without presenting one of their own.

Cotham suggested they come back after 10 years with a better plan. “[They’re saying] ‘We wanted this for 30 years, we wanted this in so many years, and even in January,’ yet there’s no proposal, there’s no plan.” Cotham said. “They have 10 years to make a proposal, to have a capital campaign. They haven’t had leadership. If someone would step up and be a leader … they could be in a totally different place.”

Cotham’s fellow representatives Elaine Powell and Vilma Leake immediately contradicted Cotham’s claims, confirming that they had been hearing from Cherry community leaders for years about efforts to take ownership of the school. Leake said she had photos from years past at meetings in Cherry with the same leadership who spoke at the public forum on April 6, then implied that Cotham had probably never been to the neighborhood.

Unsurprisingly, Cotham’s claims were felt the hardest among CCO leadership. For Bittle-Patton, however, it’s one more reason to continue fighting the folks who doubt CCO’s drive.

“If anybody feels like we’re just kind of sitting back on our hands, that’s just not the Cherry way,” she said. “That’s not the Grier Heights way, that wasn’t the Brooklyn way. You just don’t sit back and allow these things to happen.”

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

NO TIME TO WASTE

Doubts and delays hindered Mary Collins murder investigation

officers what sort of reaction they might be confronted with. In 2020, the program’s inaugural year, 20 Charlotte residents had signed up for the registry.

Project Lifesaver is another CMPD program available for those with Alzheimer’s, Down Syndrome, traumatic brain injury, etc. who have a history of “wandering off.” A person meeting the criteria — has a medical diagnosis, has a

BY LIZ LOGAN

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The following is Part 2 in a two-part series about the disappearance and murder of Mary Collins in spring 2020. Part 1 can be read in Vol. 3, Issue 10; or at qcnerve. com/mary-collins-missing-persons.

There’s a bit of a discrepancy in what happened to Mary Collins and where it falls in CMPD’s protocol for missing persons reports.

CMPD’s Missing Persons Unit website clearly states, “Being a missing person is not a crime. Adults can go missing if they choose to … They can choose to leave work, ignore friends, even family.

Because of this, law enforcement is quite limited in what they can do.”

According to the North Carolina Center for Missing Persons (NCCMP), a missing person is technically defined as any individual 18 years of age or older whose location has not been determined and who has been reported missing to a law enforcement agency.

There is no direct information to aid families of individuals with disabilities, nor for those who are certain of the individual’s whereabouts, as Collins’ family was in April 2020.

CMPD’s Safe Outcomes Program, launched in 2020 as a part of broader local efforts around deescalation and “reimagining policing,” is intended to inform how people in “vulnerable populations” — mostly referring to people diagnosed with neurodivergent disorders — may react to police officers during a call.

The program provides a voluntary registry for Mecklenburg County residents who suffer from any variety of neurodivergent disorders ranging from dementia to ADHD, so as to protect those on whom police have been called by informing responding

susceptible to harm. A case only qualifies for a Silver Alert if the subject meets all criteria: the person is believed to be missing; they have dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or a disability that requires them to be protected from potential abuse or other physical harm, neglect, or exploitation; a legal custodian has reported the person missing to local law enforcement; and the local law enforcement agency has then reported the incident to the NCCMP. NCCMP’s Silver Alert website has a bold-text reminder that the NCCMP is the only agency able to activate a Silver Alert and will do so only at the request of the investigating law enforcement agency.

Like Amber Alerts do for missing children, a Silver Alert sends out an alert to the media as well as to electronic highway billboards and other locations.

What were the options?

MARY COLLINS PHOTO COURTESY OF MARY’S VOICE

caregiver, has wandered off in the past — is then given an alert bracelet they are required to wear at all times to inform the family of the individual’s whereabouts should they wander.

In 2007, North Carolina implemented the Silver Alert system, intended to assist in missing persons cases involving people who suffer from Alzheimer’s or other cognitive impairments that make them

A Silver Alert was never issued for Mary Collins case, and the family suspects that is a direct result of the inaction of Joshua Gaskin, the lead detective on her case.

Though her family reported missing on March 30, CMPD did not issue a missing persons bulletin for Collins until April 3, one day prior to her body being found exactly where her family said it would be.

In 2008, 559 Silver Alert cases were entered and 128 of those were activated. Of the 128, 118 were recovered; all of whom were senior citizens.

According to the most recent data available for NCCMP, of the 359 Silver Alerts issued in 2017, only 57 were reported as located or recovered because of the Silver Alert, nine of whom were deceased, leading to questions of the program’s general efficacy.

Inquiries as to whether a Silver Alert would have truly been a benefit in this case are speculative. But what this insinuates regardless, Collins’ family says, is that Gaskin did not take the case seriously.

As the days passed, the family says calls continued to pour in to CMPD begging for Gaskin’s help. There was one call, however, that the family believes superseded the rest.

“Someone called in and told the detective that Mary had done this before, that she runs off with guys all the time,” Alderman says. The family says not only was this allegation not true but was nearly impossible given her disorder, and neither Gaskin nor any other CMPD officials ever called to confirm the claim with them.

Collins’ grandmother Mia Alderman believes Gaskin profiled Collins and took this singular tip as fact. She credits that to implicit bias so clearly stated in the defensive nature of the missing persons protocol, as shown in the repeated reminders on the CMPD website that adults are free to do as they wish.

On March 31, the day after the Alderman filed a report, she says Gaskin called her and said he couldn’t make it out to the apartment that day.

He answered her repeated claims that Collins was in immediate danger with a suggestion that she call 911. Alderman asked to see the footage from the apartment complex’s cameras from the 28th through 30th to confirm whether Collins had left.

Alderman says Gaskin told her they would need a warrant, though Alderman says she later found that information to be inaccurate.

The family had difficulty contacting management at The Yards. The onset of COVID-19 had caused an office closure, slowing the possibility for accessing security footage. Finally, on April 3, Alderman was given permission by the complex’s corporate office to view the footage. By this time, however, a new month had started. March 28 had been erased.

Doubts lead to inaction

CMPD’s Missing Person Unit consists of five detectives, one investigative technician and one supervisor who collectively handle around 3,500 reports each year. Reports are left up to the discretion of the assigned detective to determine the legitimacy of each case.

In her She Says podcast, which was published

by WFAE in 2019, Sarah Delia reported on the case of “Linda,” a sexual assault victim who faced doubts from CMPD investigators after being victim of a sexual assault at the hands of a stranger. The series

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NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

those who had been in contact with Lavery, Pham a say over whether the person reported missing is long Collins’ body may have sat unattended while the family begged for intervention. These concerns and James Salerno, an apparent friend of the couple deemed to be in immediate danger.

“When you go to the police, you just hear them also received a nonchalant response from an officer, who now seemed to be involved. Salerno allegedly begged the question: Are detectives overrun with admitted to a friend that Collins’ body was in the say, ‘Our officers followed policy and procedure,’” Alderman says. cases?

Alderman says. “Ok, so your policy and procedure is “[The officer] said, ‘I guess it doesn’t matter apartment, and the friend reported it to police.

Inaction and disbelief is a longnow,’” she recalls. standing criticism of law enforcement when To the family, though, it will it comes to sexual assault as well as missing never not matter. persons cases. It is not a Charlotte-specific Alderman knows a trial is a phenomenon. long way off. She fears that, given In 2017, Andrew Devendorf was told, the number of homicides and “People go missing and come back all the backlog created by COVID-19 the time … Sometimes they just need shutdowns, they may never reach a break,” by the man who was supposed that point. But still, she is putting to be investigating his brother Andrew’s the energy from this tragedy into disappearance. Andrew pleaded with him work toward justice reform. to take Matt’s depression into consideration, Meanwhile, Collins’ friends and begged him to take the case seriously. and family continue to collectively Matt was later found dead, the result of an mourn and remember the trauma apparent suicide. and tragedy they endured during Legal experts led a movement for their search for answers. reform In Mumbai after multiple missing As for their new roles as persons reports ended with a high-profile community organizers and reform murder in 2012. advocates, Alderman says, “We are According to New York-based nonprofit new to this and never wanted to be online journalism project The Missing, here, but we were given no choice.

NYPD has special categories by which they So, in Mary’s name, we will rank missing persons cases by urgency and bring light to the darkness, sharing importance. our experiences with the hope of A VIGIL FOR MARY ON APRIL 4, 2021.

Former NYPD sergeant Joseph making things better. We will push PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN Giacalone says those who don’t meet the for and expect change.” criteria “will not receive as much attention. This is On April 4, more officers entered the apartment severely flawed and you need to change it.”

INFO@QCNERVE.COM because people over the age of 18 legally do not and found Collins’ body hidden in a mattress, in the Alderman says the last year has been hell. While have to return home.” same back bedroom that family members had been the autopsy report has come back, the time of death “Unless we can prove that there was an denied full access to during previous searches. is undetermined, leaving the family wondering not involuntary disappearance, we just file paperwork,” only if this could have been prevented, but how said Giacalone.

Grieving family members become This shoulder-shrug attitude exists worldwide, License# 2214 due largely to the low number of missing persons reluctant activists The family is now systematically seeking justice. reports that are found to involve criminal intent or Their organization, Mary’s Voice, is meant to fully involuntary disappearance. According to CMPD, of encapsulate all the issues her case entails. During the 3,500 reports the department’s Missing Persons Unit sees each year, only about 10 are found to Mary Collins’ short life, she was often unable to involve foul play. That hasn’t stopped advocates speak up for herself. Now, in response to her death, from calling for missing persons reports to be taken her family seeks to speak up for her.

Their first call for justice involves Collins’ killers, more seriously.

“Why aren’t we treating each of them like one of as the family wants to see all four of those charged the 10 [criminal cases] until we know they aren’t?” in her case sentenced to life in prison.

Beyond that, Mary’s Voice seeks policy change asks Mary Collins’ aunt, Alex Gallo.

On April 3, five days after the report was in missing persons investigations, especially when filed, Alderman says Gaskin told her he finally they involve differently abled individuals. Because Emergency | Residential | Commercial searched the apartment. She says it was during this Collins was never truly missing and was believed conversation that an exasperated Gaskin asked, “Do to be held against her will for some unknown time, 980-292-5625 her family wants different protocols put in place that Nearby NoDa and Plaza-Midwood you understand she’s not in there?”

We’re just a hop, skip and a jump away! charlottelockbunny.com allow those closest to the victims to have more of Eventually, however, enough tips came in from

Locksmith

ARTS FEATURE

A COURT CASE REOPENED ‘Inherit the Land’ documentary tells a local tale lost to time

Pg. 10 APR 21 - MAY 4, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM

BY LEA BEKELE

More than half a century before Martin Luther King vied for a world in which Black and white children could live together in harmony, a single photo was taken in Union County depicting three older white women, a young white girl and a young Black girl sitting side by side in front of a large house.

That photo, shot in what is now the small western Union County village of Marvin, started Gene Stowe on a long search for answers, eventually leading to his discovery of the original transcript of a historic but forgotten court case that involved the women in the photo.

Stowe spent many of the following years researching and writing about the Ross family and Mittie Bell Houstin, the young Black girl in the photo, chronicling their story in a book called Inherit the Land: Jim Crow Meets Miss Maggie’s Will.

In the book, Stowe tells the story of how Maggie and Sallie Ross, once the richest women living in Union County, gave away their inheritance to a Black man and his daughter who had grown up alongside them. Despite challenges from the Ross’ would-be inheritors, an all-white jury in 1920 ruled in favor of Houstin and her father.

For a new documentary about the case, which recently wrapped after filming in and around Union County, Stowe enlisted the help of award-winning director Cylk Cozart, producer Jim Johnson, coproducer Lorayn DeLuca, and a handful of actors — many of whom are direct descendants of the people they’re portraying — to create a historical retelling of the fateful court case onscreen.

Along with the ancestral connections, parts of Inherit the Land were filmed in the same Marvin courthouse where Houstin affirmed her rightful ownership of 800 acres of land left to her by the two Ross sisters.

On April 16, the 100th anniversary of the verdict, Queen City Nerve sat down with Stowe to discuss how his life’s work led to the creation of the upcoming documentary.

Two worlds, one family

Under North Carolina’s Reconstruction-era apprenticeship law, Bob Ross, a Black man living in Union County, began working under Susan Burleyson Ross in 1875.

After Susan’s daughters, Maggie and Sallie, grew past childbearing age, she knew an heir for her fortune was no longer in the cards. She taught Bob everything there was to know about managing the property.

Bob and his daughter Mittie remained a part of the Ross family after Susan passed. By that point, the Rosses had taught Bob to read, write and cipher.

They gave Bob power over their 800-acre homestead and a community of Black and white tenant farmers.

They treated his daughter as their own.

After her parents passed, Maggie left her family’s property to Bob and Mittie. As the richest woman in Union County, Maggie’s choice to leave her family’s estate to a Black man and his child came as a surprise to her white relatives, who felt entitled to the property.

The decision went against the wishes and expectations of her family, but was also seen as an affront to white, affluent society in general.

Ross’ cousins contested Maggie’s will, but against all odds, they lost their case against Houstin, then in her mid-30s, in a dramatic court ruling.

Putting the pieces together

Now a full-time author, Gene Stowe previously worked as a journalist for the Charlotte Observer.

In 1992, he covered a community festival that included congregations from Banks Presbyterian Church and the nearby Marvin Methodist Church.

Stowe pulled up to the event and was surprised by the diversity he saw in the crowd.

“I had covered certain generational festivals before and thought I knew what they looked like,” Stowe explained. “Nobody in the same room — pretty much Black people at these tables and whites at these tables.”

At the time, Black and white neighbors in Union County kept to themselves, especially in Stowe’s hometown of Monroe, he says. “There was a lot of politeness, but you know, they weren’t usually close friends that knew each other.”

And yet at the Banks Presbyterian community festival, Stowe witnessed something he hadn’t imagined possible during his upbringing in the county. Curious to learn more, he sat down with folks attending the festival, and that’s where he first learned about the Ross family home. He scoured historic archives, photos and documents related to

the story for nearly a decade until, in 2001, he found the original transcript of the trial involving Maggie Ross’ contested will.

The trial was filled with dramatic moments, as when neighbor George Sutton testified for the validity of the will, then learned the family was Black and attempted to recant. Stowe shared Sutton’s quote to his Facebook page on April 2: “For the benefit of the Country, I want this will to be broken,” Sutton said. “I do not want these Negroes to have this property in our community. If the Ross women had the sense that I have got they would not make a will like that; if they had seen things as I do.”

Stowe published his book two years later, then continued with his research. The more information he found regarding the family and its ties to Union County history, the more interested he grew in turning the book into a documentary.

Tell it on the screen

After coming across Stowe’s work while serving on the board of the Union County Arts Council, Lorayn DeLuca was able to use her insight and connections from a former Hollywood career that saw her working with heavy hitters like Lee Strassburg to help Stowe get his project off the ground.

“I called Gene because I found out he’s my neighbor,” DeLuca said.

Meeting for the first time at Alice Jules Coffee House in downtown Monroe, the two sat for hours discussing what potential the book had as a documentary, capitalizing on Gene’s understanding of the story and DeLuca’s grasp on film production. After Stowe’s original director didn’t pan out, his daughter recommended her father-in-law, Jim Johnson.

“When I read Gene’s book, I could hardly put it down,” Johnson said. “I could envision what this production would look like even by reading the book.”

Johnson insisted that if he was going to work on this project, it had to be with the help of his best friend, Cylk Cozart.

No stranger to the film industry, Cozart is recognizable in roles like Robert in White Men Can’t Jump or Agent Lowry in Conspiracy Theory. Though he’s done directing work, he says Inherit the Land offered a new experience.

“I think the main difference is that once we assembled the team, I’ve never had everybody on the exact same page to tell the story,” Cozart explained.

Stowe first met up with Cozart and Johnson at a Cheesecake Factory in Knoxville in August 2019 to pitch the idea and discuss the steps it would take to see the project through to the end.

The starting cost of filming was around $25,000, one-third of Stowe’s entire life savings.

“I said ‘Okay, who do I make the check out to?’”

Stowe recalled.

After spending decades of his life researching and putting the story together, filming for Inherit the Land has finally wrapped and the film is slated to premiere in the fall.

During the process, it became clear to Stowe that the documentary will act as the crucial culmination of the work he’s done over all those years, bringing more eyes to a piece of history that most Union County residents never learn about.

LBEKELE@QCNERVE.COM

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MUSIC FEATURE

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

A whirlwind globetrotting journey ends with the formation of Space Ballet

Pg. 11 APR 21 - MAY 4, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM

BY PAT MORAN

In Space Ballet’s cosmic torch song “Out of the Blue,” vocalist Kim Irene Milan projects her feathered alto beyond the stars — literally.

The video accompanying the psychedelic triphop duo’s song features Milan and drummer/ keyboardist Jedd Lygre superimposed over quasars and spiraling galaxies. As the duo jams amid the cosmos, it seems like the coolest band at the end of the universe.

Since Space Ballet was launched in February 2020, Milan and Lygre have released three videos and at least five songs. On May 4, the band drops their latest single, “Wolf’s Moon Waltz,” recorded during the full moon of January, called the Wolf Moon. Their music may shift from the shuffling trip-hop of “Out of the Blue” to the pulsing electronica of “Both of Us,” but Milan’s free-falling, hypnotic vocals remain at the heart of each song.

She can sound hopeful, mystical, and forlorn all in the same breath: “You’ve reached the platform of the universe / So why not jump into oblivion?”

Born into a military family, Milan grew up in southern Spain, which had a “monumental influence” on her as an artist, she says. A natural dancer, she studied flamenco, the popular Spanish style of music and dance. When it came time for the family to come back to the states, they moved to New Orleans. Milan fit in.

“I always saw people with cameras and canvasses, and singing and dancing,” she says. “It was part of life.”

In college at Radford University in Virginia, Milan started writing sketches and stories. With a like-minded group of students, she produced and edited videos she had written. While she earned a degree in media studies, her extracurricular video work sparked her desire to create.

“The day I graduated from college I jumped in a car and drove 2,400 miles to East L.A.,” Milan remembers. “I wanted to write for TV.” Writing, she says, was a shield to hide behind.

“I wanted to be in the world but [was] a little shy about coming out.”

She found work as a production assistant, and with other P.A.s launched a Brazilian jazz band that played coffee shops and jazz clubs. The group featured Milan on vocals and bass player Rafael Moreira, who went on to appear as a guitarist and vocalist on television shows like CBS’s Rock Star: INXS and NBC’s The Voice. After

she worked as production secretary on the pilot for the science fiction series Surface, and sang with a beach band named Karma Sutra Theory.

In the audience at one KST gig was Matthys Barker from Charlotte. Barker and Milan began dating, and within three months, the couple had married and moved to Charlotte, where Milan gave birth to a second daughter, Ziva.

With musician and producer Scott Slagle, Milan formed the band Sweet Irene, which released two albums of alternative pop rock, Windows and Dust and The War on Sound.

“We played at The Evening Muse one time and then boom!” Milan remembers. “It was done after that.”

French hip-hop artist Riks Laguinte contacted Milan after hearing her songs on Myspace. The rapper from Marseilles wanted to record and tour with Milan.

“We hit it off right away,” says Milan, who speaks French and Spanish. Milan flew to France in time to record an album with Laguinte’s band, Swamp Bug meets the Frog. The group toured, taking part in Fête de la musique. “In France every June, they have music every single night in every single town all over [the country],” Milan offers.

Milan’s French sojourn came to an abrupt end when Laguinte refused to sign an American contract. Milan felt the partnership could not evolve without an American deal. The band dissolved.

Milan was in the beautiful village of San Antonio in the south of France, KIM IRENE MILAN (LEFT) AND JEDD LYGRE OF SPACE BALLET PHOTO BY ASHLEY T. HUGHES brooding. Serendipity struck again when she met British musician and recording a three-song EP, the band promptly broke up. producer Tyrax Ventura at the teashop he owned Milan moved from East L.A. to Hollywood, in the village. Once again, Milan hit it off with a where she befriended writer and actress Stephanie Bennett, who asked Milan to record a children’s song for her feature Some Body. Milan cut the song and earned a trip to the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.

She remembers leaving screening venues to see well-known musicians play down the street.

“I saw Phil Lesh on guitar, and got to meet Tom Morello because the actors didn’t know who these guys were,” she says.

By this time, Milan was a single mother with a daughter, Tina, whom she had with Ronkat Spearman, a member of Parliament Funkadelic. Realizing none of her creative relationships in L.A. were lasting, Milan left for North Carolina, landing in Wilmington. There,

musical collaborator, and formed a band. Just as the pair, calling themselves Sugarpump, started writing an album, Ventura moved back to England.

“It took me flying to meet him in England several times over that following year to finish the record,” Milan offers. Sugar Rush, an infectious electropop collection, was released in 2015. Through Ventura’s connections with the British film industry, Sugarpump placed their music in Throw of the Dice, a drama about immigrant families in England.

Then Ventura got married and lost interest in the band. Like Milan’s previous projects, Sugarpump shut down. Milan came back to Charlotte and attempted to put together another music project, but it too fell through.

At a low ebb, determined to quit music, Milan received a lifeline from a friend, musician and producer Jason Herring (The Mystery Plan). Herring encouraged Milan to keep on making music. He put her in touch with some friends, including drummer and keyboardist Lygre.

With the single “Wolf’s Moon Waltz” dropping, Milan is at a crossroads. She’s getting a divorce from Barker, and contemplating the lessons she learned as a woman in a male-dominated business trying to make connections stick.

“All the places that I have been, it comes from the need to find my community,” Milan says.

Milan comes up with Space Ballet’s intense and spiritual lyrics on the spot, freestyling to Lygre’s improvisations. As a medium who does readings for clients, she has a word for her method: channeling.

“A lot of the times the words will come out and I won’t know what they mean, until after I go back and tidy things up lyrically,” she offers. That meaning is often spiritual, even if it examines pain as well as joy.

“In ‘Out of the Blue,’ when I sing, ‘You’re beautiful in every dimension,’ I mean that. I want everyone to feel that way about themselves.”

PMORAN@QCNERVE.COM

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DRINK FRESH OR GO TO HELL

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

with my friends’ coworkers, wonderful, but would I suggest coming here? I don’t know. (laughs). If my roommate didn’t work here, I probably wouldn’t spend any time in South End. Aerin: I was like, “Why are we going to South End?” I’m still anti-South End. I was trying to think about it today, like, what is the big deal? Why are you stressed?

I like this spot, but I never come to this Common A quick crawl through Market. I always go to the Plaza Midwood one Charlotte’s most hated because that’s three minutes from me. I’m not really neighborhood into brewery drinking. I will drink beer even when I’m not at a brewery, but it’s lighter, it’s not as heavy, and then the people you run into at the breweries, What neighborhood and then the Uber ride here. in Charlotte arouses more Ryan: Zeppelin closed reaction when it’s mentioned next door. Did any others than South End? close during COVID? There is perhaps nowhere Erick: Apostrophe in the Queen City people closed.

Have you ever been to love to hate on more than Pins Mechanical? That place this sprawling streetscape is hard. I fuck with it. of luxury apartments and Justin: The only time bars and restaurants known I’ve enjoyed being there was as a haven for frat-boyswhen it was on someone turned-banker-bros and their else’s tab. Me, as someone accompanying Barbie dolls. who really enjoys real We’ve got no shortage of bowling and takes it very South End opinions ourselves, seriously, I fucking hate but you can’t hate it ‘til you try duckpin bowling. I hate it. it (and put it on the record) so That tiny little ball and those we decided a nice bar crawl tiny little pins, it’s so difficult. was in order for our first I hate it ...

Queen CIty Nerve rendition of There’s a fire alarm over Boozin’ on a Budget. there, so what happens For those who aren’t when you pull a fire alarm familiar, Boozin’ on a Budget at a bar?

Do we evacuate? Do was a series we ran at an old we line up on somebody. publication. It kicked off with Aerin: Corner Pub we a high-brow review of the don’t, at Corner Pub we very cheapest beer we could PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN say, “Well this is annoying. find for sale in Plaza Midwood GETTING STARTED (FROM LEFT): RYAN PITKIN, ERICK LOTTARY, AERIN SPRUILL, LEA BEKELE, AND JUSTIN LAFRANCOIS. Someone better turn that bars, then continued with shit off.” a tour of patios along the Blue Line followed by a Erick: I opened for Nipsey Hussle in Tremont.

Justin: We’re adults, if it catches ablaze, we can crawl across the city looking for the best game bars. that corner at Camden Road with Black Sheep and the old Common Market?

He was on the Marathon tour.

That was South End leave on our own.

We’re back at it with a tour of South End, to Erick: Absolutely.

That was such an amazing to me. which we brought back B.o.B. originals Ryan Pitkin Justin: Now it’s a bougie, yuppy fucking piece Upon leaving, the crew took their first breathalyzer and Justin LaFrancois, and recruited our digital editor space. I used to go there all the time. Phat Burrito of garbage and I fucking love hanging out here. I readings: Ryan (.06), Erick (.07), Justin (.03), Aerin Lea Bekele, our nightlife writer Aerin Spruill, local was amazing.

Ryan: I feel like South End has different talk shit about South End all the time, but I also love (.047), Lea (.036), and Grant (.018). rapper Erick Lottary, Amplify CLT founder Christine portions to the neighborhood, more so than NoDa coming here.

Edwards, and photographer Grant Baldwin.

Lea: I feel like it’s really hit or miss. There are “I’m not that drunk, you musta got that thing off This time we weren’t focused on budget as much or Plaza or something. This little area [on Tremont] up to Atherton Mill I think of as different from some definitely pockets that I really enjoy, especially Wish.”

- Erick Lottary as blood — meaning blood-alcohol content. We other places in South End. The Camden Road area is when I’m with other service industry people.

I’m ordered our very own breathalyzer off the internet like, “This is great, I love it here,” like going to Tyber for $150 and brought it along, figuring it would be a a whole different place to me.

BOOZIN’ ON A BUDGET IN SOUTH END

Pg. 14 APR 21 - MAY 4, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM

good way to monitor just how the crawl was going.

Justin: I loved Phat Burrito, but I also think I We set out to hit seven spots, but as usually only went to the old Common Market once. happens when you’re Boozing on a Budget, things Ryan: I would be there a lot for Food Truck didn’t go quite as planned.

Friday, that’s where those were made popular. That shit was fun.

We kick things off on the patio of Common Market Justin: I only spent time at Tremont [Music Hall] South End, 235 W. Tremont Ave. and Amos’ [Southend].

Ryan: I never went to Tremont, regretfully.

Ryan: What are your thoughts on South End as Justin: I broke my hand on the pole in there. a whole?

Grant: That pole broke a lot of folks, especially Erick: New South End or Old South End? during dodgeball.

Ryan: How do you see the New South End as Justin: That was all I knew of South End … compared to the Old South End? Was the turning I sold weed to one of my favorite metal bands at point of Old and New South End the demolition of Amos’. The Acacia Strain. It was fucking awesome.

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE The crew makes their way over to Sycamore Brewing, but with capacity limits what they are, the line to get a single beer is out the door and snaking through the patio. We make our way to The Eagle Food & Beer Hall, 2120 South Blvd.

Pg. 15 APR 21 - MAY 4, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM

Justin: I no longer feel like we’re in South End. Aerin: In a good or bad way?

Justin: Just like a purgatory way. I feel like I’m in South End Purgatory. I can’t really tell that I’m here or not. I could come here specifically to come here, if I were like, “I don’t want to go to South End.” Ryan: It seems like a nice dinner spot. I don’t know if it’s the type of place I’d like to hang and drink at the bar.

Justin: No, it’s not social like that because the bar’s too small, and it’s real compact. It’s not a drinking bar.

Ryan: I don’t know if this is just in my brain because it’s a chain, but this feels like someplace you’d go when you’re out of town and you just end up there because you don’t know any better.

Justin: Like a Chili’s or an Applebee’s [laughs].

Aerin: This place is OK, I don’t know if I’ll be back to try the chicken. I would love to try it but it’s not a guarantee, it feels like now or never for me.

Ryan: I’ll probably come by one time and try

ROLLING OUT OF THE EAGLE.

out the chicken to see what the hype is about.

Erick: Yeah, I’mma definitely try it once.

Aerin: My worry around here is when can I find parking?

[Later in the conversation] Erick: We’re at the gentrification right now.

We’re sitting in it.

Ryan: I feel like we’re at a point in this city where we can still do something about it, though, no?

Erick: Ehh, I don’t think so. I don’t think it’s possible.

Justin: You look at development and gentrification, and I look at it the same as systemic racism and stuff like that, where if ERICK LOTTARY GETS HIS MEASUREMENTS. you don’t completely break it and start from scratch, you can’t Ryan: There is more history in Charlotte than fix it. You can make all these policies and zoning people like to give it credit for. That in itself can be laws and stuff about development, it will never gentrified in its own use, though. Like Atherton Mill, matter, that’s just how development works. That’s right on the other side of this wall, it’s a Luna’s and a why I say I hate Charlotte, because I hate change, I coffee shop and all that, but it’s not used to keep any love old stuff, and I don’t like strangers. sense of community. It’s like the Morgan School [on page 6]. The Cherry Community Organization is a perfect example of how to do it; they’re not just a neighborhood association, they own homes, like a land trust.

Erick: They’re building all of this shit here [in South End], and they’re not putting nothing nowhere else, and it’s like making this whole shit congested and just horrible.

Ryan: And that’s why everybody is paying attention to Eastland Mall. How do you develop that in a way that helps the people living there rather than just make PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN another South End?

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

Erick: Oh they will [make another South End].

Justin: Building this makes money, and building anything else doesn’t.

Ryan: So ending on a high note, what do you love about Charlotte right now then?

Erick: I love the community. I’m an artist, so I love the artist community. We’re really tight-knit in Charlotte. As far as the gentrification and shit goes, it is what it is, they’re going to keep doing the shit, it’s going to keep happening, but the artist community is why I love it.

Leaving The Eagle, the crew blows again: Ryan (.067), Erick (.066), Justin (.04), Aerin (.082), Lea (.053), Grant (.00).

Erick: Inaccurate.

Justin: I feel like mine is pretty accurate.

Ryan: I think the first one was inaccurate for me, because .06 after two beers seemed high, but .066 now after two spots seems about right. Aerin’s doubled, you are the highest right now at .082.

Erick: So you’re above the legal limit right now, Aerin.

Lea: Mine might be accurate.

The crew crosses South Boulevard, where we’re joined by Christine. We find tables on the patio at Tyber Creek Pub, 1933 South Blvd., after waiting at the walk-up bar window.

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE Aerin: I do like what they tried to do with the patio with the COVID stuff. I like that there’s multiple tables, because before this was the parking lot, but this little window is not productive.

Erick: It’s not it.

Ryan: We have seven people now, and it took a lil’ while.

Justin: 93 more and we are fuckin’ pushing it for an outdoor gathering.

Erick: I’ve loved Tyber for a minute. I used to come here a lot when I was a bartender. It’s gentrified, that’s just what it is, but it’s also a good time.

Justin: One thing about this place, there’s no creek.

Erick: Not one fuckin’ creek!

[Later in the conversation] Justin: See, the reason I was like, “Let’s do Queen City Nerve in South End” was because I really thought this whole place was going to be packed out and we could people-watch and shit talk, and it’s fucking dead.

Now it’s only about to be 9 o’clock. In the regular days on a Thursday, you can expect 10:30 or 11 to be when it starts to get bumping, but where’s the bump?

Erick: In South End’s defense, it’s Thursday.

Justin: Yeah, but Thursday’s a Saturday if you think about it.

Erick: How so?

Justin: I don’t know, people just like to start their weekends on Thursday now I guess (laughs).

Aerin: I do.

Justin: When I used to work at Moo & Brew their whole thing was like “Weekend starts on Thursday at the Moo” and I always fuckin’ hated that, but now I’m just like “Oh it’s Thursday, it’s basically Friday, it’s basically Saturday, it’s almost Monday.”

Erick: But I bet a lot of people that have jobs are not going out on Thursday, like if they work a 9-5 type shift.

Aerin: I have one and I’m telling you, I am not a morning person what-so-fuckin-ever and this morning I said “Guess what today is?!” And my boyfriend was like, “What?” And I was like, “Thursday!” And he’s like, “What’s the big deal?” And I’m like, “It’s basically Friday! Let’s fuckin’ go!”

Even though I was hungover as hell.

Justin: I really thought that South End was going to be bangin’ tonight, and there ain’t nobody out here. The intersections are clear, the traffic’s slow, Tyber is empty, Common was empty, The Eagle was empty, even though we didn’t go to Sycamore, the line was the only thing long about it, there wasn’t nobody really there.

Ryan: Christine is newly South End adjacent.

You just moved from University to Dilworth, how is it?

Christine: I don’t want my response to be overly nerdy but I love how I can walk places. I love the connectivity, I love the sidewalks and the trees.

It’s beautiful. I feel like more people should be able to experience this.

South End is a little bit further from me walking distance. I could take a scooter. The directions from my place to here were like 20 minutes. Dilworth is surprisingly affordable compared to South End. Aerin: I lived here [in South End] seven years ago, in Silos. It was still a little bit apartment-heavy.

At that time, they were advertising resort-style living. I had a studio but it had a half-wall, and it was 595 square feet for $1,100.

Erick and Grant have to head out, so we take our post-Tyber breathalyzer readings: Ryan (.12), Erick (.128), Justin (.094), Aerin (.182), Lea (.082), Grant (.00), Christine (.123).

Erick: I just blew a .128 and I’m heading home to go babysit [laughs]. But no, I don’t believe in that measurement. I had a shot of Crown and four beers.

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WAITING AT THE WINDOW AT TYBER CREEK. PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

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FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS.

I had two 12-ounces, a 10-ounce, and then here was a 12-ounce and a shot of Crown.

Justin: And you just finished a beer three minutes before the test so it’s still heavy on your breath. For the record, the instruction book said wait 20 minutes [after eating or drinking] before you blow, and we’re not doing that.

Aerin: I can’t wait to see what I’m going to be at 2 a.m. after I go to Corner Pub to meet my friends.

Ryan: You have a .182 right now, that’s pretty high.

Aerin: Allegedly. That’s all I have to say.

Pg. 17 APR 21 - MAY 4, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM

The crew decides to make our way to Charlotte Beer Garden on the light rail, then after waiting at the station for around 15 minutes with a very intoxicated man named William, we decide we can very easily just walk there, so we do.

Ryan: This is my first time being here.

Justin: I love this place.

Ryan: I am quite drunk now, and we just met the nicest guy named William.

Justin: He was fucked up. Every time I’ve ever been on the light rail I’ve run into a drunk cook …

The first time I came here, I was skeptical as fuck. I was like, how do you have 246 taps and you keep the lines clean? How are you putting out good product?

I didn’t give a fuck about the cocktails, because even

though the cocktail menu sucks, it’s terrible, people Christine: I love it, and it’s called a beer garden, aren’t coming here to get cocktails. So you take so there should be some greenery. The facade kind your shots on the first floor, where they have all the of reminds me of an apartment, because I mean look local beers. On the second floors they have all the at it, but I like it. internationals, on the third they got a rooftop with Justin: This building that was here was never supposed to be for what it was, so his architects and him, they razed it, and they were just like, “Let’s build this, a threestory thing.” It literally can never be used for anything else. If they were to shut down, whoever were to buy this place and try something else would have to bulldoze it and start over. It was built to be this.

Christine: I like it. I haven’t been on the second floor and I haven’t been on the third floor, but the patio, I’m enjoying it.

Lea: This is somewhere that I feel like I would take my parents to, like it’s cute, and I feel like if I take someone here it looks like I have my shit together. Of my own volition, I don’t know if I would come here [laughs].

Beer options are not high on my priority list. If you’ve got PBR, or a good sour if I’m at a brewery, then I don’t really need 200 PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN options. a shit view of the city, because they built whatever that building is right there.

That building was still under construction when they built this so you could be on the rooftop floor and have a view of the city, and when they finished that, the view was gone. But, the owner [Niall Hanley], he’s awesome, owns Raleigh Beer Garden, Guinness Book of World Record holder. It’s a chill place. I will not deny the fact that this is a Chad ass place, though.

Christine: I like the fire pits, the heaters on this patio. I like the greenery, there’s green space, and the lights, they got the Christmas lights thing going.

This is nice; the ambiance is quite nice.

Justin: You said you like the greenery, the owner of this place is a horticulturist by trade. So every plant and vine that you see from the bottom floor to the third floor, he picked and planted.

Christine: I love it.

Justin: When I came here and interviewed him, he went off topic and just started talking about the plants. He was like, “Horticulture is my passion.

Beer never was. Beer became part of my business venture.”

You know that tree that’s in there? It’s not original to this spot but it’s a real-ass tree, and he knew how to fuse it all back together and build it through the building so it still lives.

While leaving through the front of CBG, having been lost in their own conversation and not privy to the previous talk between Justin and Christine about the tree, Lea and Ryan begin debating its authenticity.

Lea: If it’s a real tree, I fuck with it. But it’s not a real tree. I don’t think it’s a real tree.

Ryan: Are you sure?

Lea: I don’t have a lot of tree knowledge, but from what I know...

Ryan: What is it about that tree that makes you think it’s fake?

Lea: It feels like styrofoam.

Ryan: It feels like a real tree to me.

Lea: You just don’t have enough tree experience.

In light of a rapidly rising level of drunkenness, we decide to skip the last planned stop at Q.C. Pourhouse and make for the vending machine at Krispy Kreme.

But alas, it’s not taking anybody’s cards. We are denied our doughnut night cap. We take our last blows at the breathalyzer, defeated: Ryan (.154), Justin (.10), Lea (.177), Christine (.115).

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

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FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

output to zero percent output overnight.”

Luckily, the brewery had started spinning up plans for canning over the preceding months, allowing them to quickly adapt to the new reality.

“We had always planned on canning, so we got our mobile canner (Ironheart) scheduled, and our cans ordered,” Buchy said. “We already had labels designed and we even had the relationships to get our beer out to market.”

But the shifting beer marketplace also forced his team to rework plans for their proposed openings, especially concerning the layout of their new production facility.

40-barrel turnkey brewhouse, manufactured by BrauKon in Germany. Their new canning line, which will provide complete autonomy over their packaged product lines, is coming from Krones, another German manufacturer.

Buchy isn’t shy when describing the quality of the new systems. “The equipment that we’ve Fresh off a pandemic pivot, invested in is the Rolls Royce of brewing. There Legion Brewing doubles simply isn’t better stuff out there. We bought the down with ambitious very best.”

In a lesson in global supply chain management, expansion Legion’s brewhouse — the foundation of any brewery, which creates the sweet “wort” that will

BY TODD BOWMAN ultimately turn into “beer” during fermentation — is currently floating across the For Legion Brewing coAtlantic. The shiny heart of their owner Phil Buchy, 2020 was new West Morehead brewery an exhausting year. Now with was delayed for weeks by the only three months down, 2021 recent shipping snafu at the Suez isn’t looking much better. The Canal. pressure of guiding his 6-yearIn spite of the pause, Buchy old brewery through the twists is hopeful they can get the and turns of a pandemic, now equipment moved in by early coupled with an aggressive June. “Then we’ll start the 2021 expansion plan, is starting installation and commissioning to wear on his normally sunny process. Knock on wood, we disposition. should be brewing within a “I haven’t taken a vacation month or two after that.” in two years,” he explained over In addition to the brewhouse Zoom. “They say if you do what and canning line, the brewery is you love, you never work a day installing eight new 200-barrel in your life. And I’m definitely fermenters in their new facility, there. But I would still like to and will be moving a number take a vacation someday!” of 60- and 90-barrel fermenters A sabbatical seems unlikely over from Plaza Midwood. in the short-term, given When complete, the new West Legion’s plans to open a pair of Morehead brewhouse will scale new taprooms and a scaledto an eye-popping 100,000 up production facility over PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN barrels per year. the coming months. For the PHIL BUCHY OF LEGION IN THE BREWERY’S NEW TROLLEY BARN CONCEPT LOCATION. To put that number in Charlotte beer community, it The two new locations were originally expected context, 100,000 barrels is more than four times feels like these upgrades have taken an eternity to to open in the spring of 2020 (Trolley Barn) and the West Morehead: Production Stronghold the annual output ever achieved by a Charlotte arrive.

“Originally that space was two-thirds for the brewery, based on published numbers (as neither It was the summer of 2019 when the brewery fall of 2020 (West Morehead Street). But the arrival of COVID-19 in North Carolina threw a wrench in taproom and beer garden and one-third for the Olde Mecklenburg Brewery nor NoDa Brewing first announced plans for a 22,000-square-foot production brewery and taproom at 2001 West those plans, along with just about everything else brewery,” Buchy explained. “But once we got to see Company has crossed the 25,000-barrel threshold). the real data surrounding cans, we realized that we It’s also double the annual output of regional NC Morehead St., followed rapidly by the unveiling of a Buchy had anticipated for the year.

“We had very different volume forecasts before almost made a mistake.” powerhouses Foothills and Highland (both of which 7,900-square-foot taproom-and-restaurant concept Seeing the grocery aisle success of Juicy Jay and hover under the 50,000 mark). The new capacity inside the old Trolley Barn at Atherton Mill on South COVID,” he explained. “For example, we had always Boulevard. The estimated price tag for these two big intended on canning but we didn’t realize how big a other flagships, they pivoted hard, flip-flopping their makes a bold statement about Legion’s ambitions volume of beer it would require.” floor plan and giving the lion’s share to production. for the future. bets has now swollen to $13 million.

Flashing back to March of 2020, Buchy recalled They also boosted capacity plans as cans became a The phenomenal scale of the brewery’s But for Buchy, a businessman with an easy going, shoot-from-the-hip demeanor, the size of the how the pandemic forced his team to make drastic fixture of their operation, ballooning their original expansion, and the staggering costs associated with it, are not lost on the brewery’s owner. “We’re not capital outlay isn’t that intimidating, especially in operational changes. “We were a 100% draught $9 million investment plan to over $13 million. beer operation.

So we went from 100% maximum Included in these revised plans is a five-vessel, expanding just for the sake of expanding,” Buchy light of Legion’s remarkable growth. “Some say we

BEHIND THE CURTAIN

Pg. 18 APR 21 - MAY 4, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM

lucked into our success. But I think we’ve made our own luck. We’re intentionally trying to be good at what we do and to constantly improve our offerings, our customer service, our aesthetics.”

A big part of Legion’s success hangs on Juicy Jay, the brewery’s flagship East Coast IPA, which took off like a rocket shortly after Legion’s December 2015 opening. It now comprises more than 70% of their current production capacity. The beer’s breakout success has positioned the Plaza Midwood brewery to leapfrog their larger local competitors on their way to opening a third and fourth location.

Come fall, they will be the only Charlotte brewery operating four taprooms.

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

brew the beer, which will then be transported over “When West Morehead opens, we’ll finally be to Trolley Barn before yeast additions, fermentation able to get beer to the rest of Mecklenburg County,” and conditioning. he says. “And we’ve got nothing else that we’re continued. “Good opportunities were offered to As a final novelty, products will be served from going to do but focus on Charlotte this year.” us and we couldn’t say no to them.” He expects it a dozen seven-barrel serving tanks, allowing Trolley Buchy doesn’t mince words when it comes to will take years to grow into the 15-times capacity identifying the increase. cornerstone

Trolley Barn: Experimentation Central

Pg. 19 APR 21 - MAY 4, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM

When compared to their behemoth West Morehead production facility, the restaurant-stalls-plus-brewery concept at Trolley Barn almost feels quaint. But it also represents a unique experiment for adding a new taproom to an NC brewery’s footprint, primarily because this particular taproom will not carry the Legion Brewing name.

A portion of the thinking behind this decision is tied to North Carolina’s rather unique alcohol laws, which limit a A RENDERING OF HOW THE TROLLEY BARN LOCATION WILL LOOK WHEN FINISHED. brewery to operating four branded taprooms within state borders. By branding the new location Trolley Barn Barn to serve fresh draught beer without utilizing a Fermentory, not selling Legion beers, and avoiding single keg.

The remote brewing setup, while quite unique financial entanglements on the business side, the brewery has the potential to add a fourth Legion inside of the Charlotte beer community, isn’t new for Legion. location elsewhere, pending state approval.

“We actually already do this at SouthPark,” The other reason this offshoot brand made clarifi ed Buchy. “We brew at Plaza Midwood, put sense, according to Buchy, is it opens the door to exploration outside of the established Legion brand. the wort into a transfer vessel, bring it over to “We get to have some fun there,” he illustrated. SouthPark, and then pump it into the foeders there.”

Since the “wort” will ferment into “beer” inside “We’re very proud of what we do at Legion, but we do have a specific brand flavor for what we the Trolley Barn facility, this also means that the new do, especially with our beer. This was just a way location will still be considered a “brewery,” despite to take all the restraints off and have intentional the absence of a brewhouse. experimentation outside of the Legion umbrella.”

There are more creative wrinkles beneath the surface at Trolley Barn, starting with the brewing process. By migrating their flagship production to West Morehead, the brewery will free up brewing capacity at Plaza Midwood, allowing their original location to brew both smaller batch Legion beers and the new lineup of beers that will be served exclusively at Trolley Barn.

“We’re going to convert one of our delivery vans into a full-time transfer vessel by putting stainless tanks into it,” Buchy explained, which will allow Legion to avoid installing a costly third brewhouse.

The 15-barrel system at Plaza Midwood will

Future aspirations

With 100,000 barrels of production capacity on the horizon, it would be hard to deny Legion’s regional growth aspirations. But for the moment, Buchy’s attention appears focused exclusively on the Queen City.

“We love Charlotte and we’re only focused on Charlotte,” he says. “I mean, we only distribute beer inside of the I-485 loop today.”

Due to the capacity constraints of their current Plaza Midwood brewhouse, Legion’s total output has been capped at 7,000 barrels for the past three years. It’s a cap that Buchy is eager to pop.

COURTESY OF BLUEWATER

James Rutledge as a perfect example of Legion’s staffing continuity. “James is awesome, he’s an OG guy. He’s held more job positions in the company than anyone, including me.”

Rutledge, who started as a bartender at Plaza Midwood on day one and even spent some time on the sales team, will take over brewing operations of the 6-yearfor Plaza Midwood and Trolley Barn this summer. old brewery’s “Because of COVID and taproom closures, we were remarkable success. forced to go from 150 staff down to 15. Now we’re “It’s 100% our back to 150 again. We hired everybody back and staff,” he declares. everybody came back.”

In his view, With Trolley Barn slated for a May opening, and the brewery’s West Morehead trending toward a late summer unique corporate or early fall debut, it could be another vacationculture also played less summer for Legion Brewing’s fearless leader. a part, ensuring Exhaustion aside, I doubt he’d have it any other way. a consistent customer This article was published in partnership with experience across BeerCharlotte.com, the leading source for news and their growing fleet information about Charlotte’s craft beer scene since of locations while 2018. also contributing INFO@QCNERVE.COM to strong employee retention.

He holds up

UPTOWN'S FIRST SELF POUR TAPROOM 50 TAPS OF CRAFT BEER & WINE 12 BIG SCREEN TV'S OUTDOOR PATIO CRAFT KITCHEN 430W 4TH ST CHARLOTTE NC 28202 IG/FB: @TAPROOMSOCIALCLT

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

AERIN IT OUT BREWERY HOPPING WHILE BLACK

Where’s the representation?

Pg. 20 APR 21 - MAY 4, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM

BY AERIN SPRUILL

In the current environment of Black Lives Matter, Stop Asian Hate and myriad other hashtags and movements being used on social media platforms and in the streets to expose the racially motivated violence that’s occurring on a daily basis, it can be challenging to analyze one’s own thoughts and feelings about representation in everyday spaces such as breweries.

Does seeing an unarmed black person murdered affect how I see the majority in daily/nightly rendezvous — people who have never “done anything to make me feel Black while enjoying nightlife?” Am I overthinking white friends who casually invite me to spaces where I just so happen to be the only black person. Are they doing so on purpose, or do they even notice?

The question I most recently during a visit to Brewers at 4001 Yancey was this: Are my eyes betraying me or are there really only five Black people at this establishment on a Saturday at 7 p.m.? Is it an environment created by the establishment or a symptom of a South End environment? Is it me or is it them? If “I stop talking about it” will it just go away?

A quick Google search uncovered that, as of July 2020, there were only two black-owned breweries in all of North Carolina, and none in Charlotte.

Let that sink in.

I recently began exploring my mental filing cabinet of experiences over the years trying to piece together the memories and recall the deep feelings of melancholia that I felt walking into any given Irish pub or brewery for the first time with that inevitable pit in my stomach — knowing that I’d be one of the very few black people, if not the only one.

That alone begs the question, how did I know if I’d never been?

From family cookouts to college pregames (the precursory experiences to nightlife exploration as an adult), my memories are almost completely absent of “craft beer.” Sure, there’s a blur of Bud Light, Corona, and brown liquor, but I never thought about why this was while I was in the moment. After all, those memories didn’t take place at a brewery, nor was anyone stopping off to grab a growler before an event.

I realized this while having a late-night patio hang with a friend who works at a local brewery. A white guy discussing the staggering reality of the lack of Blackowned and operated breweries (at a time when brewery saturation is high, IMO) and postulating ways to change this.

Granted, this friend is one I would consider “woke,” but in the aftermath of that convo, I thought, “If he notices a disparity, then my on-the-ground observations mustn’t be simple coincidences, but a series of experiences that represent a larger, collective social issue made manifest.”

It’s important to note that it’s less a feeling that I am “unwelcome” or “unsafe” at (in this example) a brewery, but a feeling that a particular space wasn’t curated for me, by anyone that looks like me, or marketed toward me.

That’s the feeling that accompanies the moment of realization: “Whoa, I’m the only black person in here right now,” as I attempt to discern whether or not I’m feeling adventurous enough or if my palate is “sophisticated” enough for an IPA or a chocolate stout before settling on a cider or sour.

Conversations around representation, particularly a lack thereof, can be uncomfortable. “Just because Black people don’t go certain places, doesn’t mean they can’t go; that’s their choice,” I’ve often heard as a rebuttal, stated with a tone that is a combination of dismissive, defensive, and reflective with a touch of resigned sadness.

“Nothing is going to change,” or “It is how it is,” all at once.

And the harshest reality when I review how I felt about these convos is that, while their delivery could be greatly improved, said persons aren’t necessarily wrong.

A simple visit to any brewery on any random day in Charlotte could be surprisingly diverse on one trip and homogeneous on another. “Diversity” may look like 20 Black people in a large crowd one day and five on another.

What may be deemed “diverse” by one account may not be acceptable for another. Simply put, representation is nuanced.

I haven’t yet asked a head brewer or brewery manager if they’ve noticed the disparities in patronage representation or within the industry in general, but it’s been covered sparingly in local media. This may just be the start of a series of conversations that needs to be had on the duplicitous nature of breweries being for all, and why all aren’t showing up.

We need to talk about why representation matters for growing patronage, diversifying an experience and increasing sales; what barriers exist to entry for Black business owners and brewers; and the potential to transform a cultural nightlife experience in the Queen City.

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

HOROSCOPE

APR 21 - APR 27

APR 28 - MAY 4

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Whether a waiting period is taking longer than expected, or just seems that way, the anxious Lamb would do well to create a center of calm within her- or himself, and not do anything rash.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Practical matters dominate the week, but cultural activities also are favored, especially those that can be shared with someone special in the Bovine’s life. Some important news might be forthcoming.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) You need to know more about a possible career move in order to see if it offers a real opportunity or just a change. You’re sure to get lots of advice — some of it good — but the decision must be yours.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) The arrival of hopedfor good news about a loved one dominates most of the week and provides a great excuse for the party-loving Moon Child to plan a special event to celebrate.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) Leos and Leonas rushing to finalize their plans might want to think about slowing down the pace, or risk overlooking an important consideration that could become a sore point down the line.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) The week’s challenges call for logical approaches. But sentiment also has its place. Sharing memories with a special someone, for example, strengthens the bond between you.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) A brand-new approach to a problem could have a good chance of succeeding if it’s based on a solid foundation of fact to strengthen its potential for standing up to scrutiny.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) A favorable report should give your optimism an important boost as you confront another phase of a challenge. Don’t be timid about accepting advice from someone you trust.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) You might want to target another goal if your current aim is continually being deflected. But stay with it until you find that first sign of an opening, and then follow through.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Although offers of advice might not always please the usually sure-footed Goat, good counsel is always worth considering, especially from those whose experience can be invaluable.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) Don’t rush to make up for lost time. Your productivity can be measured not only by what you do, but how you do it. Move carefully until the job is done the way you like it.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Emerging facts about someone you know might cause you to rethink your relationship. But remember to make judgments in context of a full situation, not just on scraps of data.

BORN THIS WEEK: You are known both for your love of acquiring beautiful things as well as for your generosity to others.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Impatience is still somewhat of a problem. But a sign of progress should soothe the anxious Aries heart. Meanwhile, invest some of that waiting time in preparing for the change ahead.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Bovines tend to excel at solving problems, not creating them. But you risk doing just that if you’re slow to respond to a timely situation. If necessary, seek advice from someone you trust.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) The Gemini Twin might need to do more than a routine check of both a job-linked and home-based situation. Dig deeper for more data on both fronts to avoid unwanted surprises later.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Moon Children facing an important workplace decision are encouraged to use their perceptiveness to see through any attempt to win them over with a supercharge of fawning and flattery.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) Good news catapults Leos and Leonas into reconsidering a deferred decision. But time has moved on, and it’s a good idea to recheck your plans and make adjustments where necessary.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) The week favors relationships, both personal and professional.

Take the time to look for and immediately repair any vulnerable areas caused by unresolved misunderstandings.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) A friend’s problems bring out your protective instincts.

Be careful to keep a balance between meeting the obligations of friendship without being overwhelmed by them.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) The temptation to take an extreme position on an issue is strong, but moderation is favored both in personal and professional dealings. Move toward finding areas of agreement.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Getting another boss or teacher? Try to see the person behind the image. It will help you adjust more easily to the changes that new authority figures inevitably bring.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Much as you might dislike the idea, keep an open mind about using the assistance of a third party to help resolve problems that threaten to unravel an important agreement.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) Career choices that seem too confusing to deal with at this point probably are. More information would help uncomplicate them. On the personal side, a friend might need your advice.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) A challenge that seems easy enough at first could take an unexpected turn that might test your resolve. Decide if you feel you should stay with it, or if it’s better to move in another direction.

BORN THIS WEEK: You can be strong when standing up for justice, both for yourself and for others.

2021 KING FEATURES SYND., INC.

LIFESTYLE PUZZLES SUDOKU

TRIVIA TEST

BY FIFI RODRIGUEZ

BY LINDA THISTLE

PLACE A NUMBER IN THE EMPTY BOXES IN SUCH A WAY THAT EACH ROW ACROSS, EACH COLUMN DOWN AND EACH SMALL 9-BOX SQUARE CONTAINS ALL OF THE NUMBERS ONE TO NINE. ©2020 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

BF_QCnerve_Ad_CHAR_April2021.pdf

2

4/16/21

11:36 AM

1. U.S. CITIES: What is the name of the mountain and city where the famous Hollywood sign is located?

2. MOVIES: “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off ” was filmed in and around which American city?

3. LITERATURE: Which 20th-century novel featured a character named Daisy Buchanan?

4. TELEVISION: Which 1960s sitcom’s theme song is “The Fishin’ Hole”?

5. ANIMAL KINGDOM: Which island nation is home to lemurs?

6. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: What is the birth flower for people born in November?

7. GEOGRAPHY: Where are the Harz Mountains located?

8. HISTORY: What kind of mammal was the first to be cloned successfully?

9. MUSIC: Which rock group performed the 1970s song “Doraville”?

10. MEASUREMENTS: What does a kilopond measure?

CROSSWORD ACROSS

1 Tribal emblems 7 Sobbing 14 Hunt for food 20 Of a big blood vessel 21 Church part near the altar 22 Mistreating type 23 Start of a riddle 25 Starts a PC session 26 Copies a cat 27 Pop singer Grande, to fans 28 Doctrine in copyright law 29 Buy that can be deleted 31 With 110-Down, decisive trial 34 Hawk’s nest 37 Goldman’s partner 38 Riddle, part 2 43 Fig and fir 44 Foster 45 Miner’s strike 46 Unruffled 48 Plotting group 51 Pastry variety 57 Riddle, part 3 62 Pieces of gig gear 65 Bridle part 66 Of a central point 67 Perform wonderfully 68 Buck mate 69 Apple’s apple, e.g.

70 Miss.-to-Minn. dir.

71 Foyer floor protectors 73 Linking word in Leipzig 74 Befogged 76 1960s radical Hoffman 78 Huge hauler 79 February 14 deity

80 Riddle, part 4 84 Weds on the fly 85 University of -- Dame 86 Buddy from way back 90 Group in a roundup 93 Griffin who created “Jeopardy!”

96 Debonair 97 End of the riddle 105 Helmsley with hotels 106 Beau -107 Rebuke to Brutus 108 “Hel-l-lp!”

109 Divided into segments 111 Cry of cheer 113 Part of OTB 116 Provoke 117 Riddle’s answer 123 Fishing nets 124 Vacillated 125 Comic Boosler 126 Most eccentric 127 Cabbie’s query 128 More packed

game) 13 Foxy 14 FDR’s dog 15 Wind section player 16 Little kid 17 “That being the case ...”

18 Hostess in a kimono 19 Borgnine of “Marty” 24 Grouchy Muppet 28 Familial fight 29 Deeds 30 Prune 32 34th prez 33 Priest’s assistant 35 Threw the dice 36 Altar avowal 39 Conducts 40 In re 41 “Darn it!”

42 Relinquish 47 The younger Saarinen 49 Grammy winner Tony 50 State frankly 52 Grows older 53 Shoot down 54 Rack up DOWN 55 Old-style office scribe 1 Shooting marble 56 Clings (to) 2 Cry of delight 58 “Just Shoot Me!” actor 3 Stomped on George 4 Kin of -ess 59 Mourner of myth 5 Japanese soup variety 6 Investment bigwig Charles 60 Personal identifiers 61 Pin it on 7 Hosp. section 62 Wise truism 8 Bruins’ org.

63 Roadhouse 9 “I did it!”

64 Basil-based sauce 10 Bait 69 Overdue 11 More tender 70 Boy, in Bolivia 12 Mr. --! (old detective

TA I R A G MAR ONDAY M

5

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Pg. 21 APR 21 - MAY 4, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM

all day!

voted best margarita in Charlotte. join us every monday for $5 margarita’s. freshly squeezed in-house daily.

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WELL-PRESERVED ©2020 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

72 DVR pioneer 75 Sci-fi power 77 Family on “Married ... With Children” 78 Jacket part 79 Finish 81 Court king Arthur 82 Cookbook writer Rombauer 83 Snow queen in “Frozen” 87 Openers of many locks 88 Chevy debut of 2004 89 Some watch displays, for short 91 Leg up 92 Pop’s Carly -- Jepsen 94 Like a prof. emeritus 95 Flashy Chevy, for short 97 Texas city 98 Got close to 99 Doughnut-shaped figure 100 Harmonious 101 Hoists 102 Took pains 103 Physician, often 104 Lay in concealment 110 See 31-Across 112 Roll call reply 114 Proficient 115 -- -Grape (Ocean Spray flavor) 117 URL part 118 “Take that!”

119 Sweaty, say 120 Old Tokyo 121 Prop- or hex- ender 122 The, in Vienna

We’re kind of opening, kind of not, so not all of these are virtual events as we were highlighting at the beginning of the lockdown, but plenty are. COVID is still going strong, so party at your own risk.

COMMUNITY READ: ‘JUST MERCY’

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s Community Read series focuses on creating a community dialogue around the themes of racism and social justice. The idea is to encourage community members to read (or listen) to books on current events and topics then participate in discussions. In partnership with Central Piedmont Community College, Cedric Dean, a formerly incarcerated criminal justice system reformer and author, will lead a discussion about race and the justice system. The discussion will also include connections to the Community Read selection book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.

More: Free; April 22, 12:30 p.m.; online; cpcc.edu/ events

CHA WA

Pg. 22 APR 21 - MAY 4, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM

The exuberant and rhythmic brass funk Mardi Gras Indian band based out of New Orleans celebrates Earth Day with the release of their new album, My People. The new release is the much-anticipated follow up to their Grammy-nominated album Spyboy, continuing the group’s distillation of pure joy, which encompasses generations of New Orleans musical expression, but it also reminds listeners how hard-won that joy is with its declaration, “My people, we’re still here.” Popmatters called the collective, “grand gumbo of singing, intoxicating rhythms and deep funk grooves that are impossible to resist.”

More: $10-15; April 22, 9 p.m.; online; maxxmusic. com

JOSH WOLF

What: Comedian, actor and writer Wolf has penned a number of sitcoms, including All of Us and Cuts, though he may be best known for his regular appearances on the round table of E!’s nowdefunct late-night talk show Chelsea Lately. He also became a New York Times bestselling author for his contributions to Handler’s bestselling book Lies that Chelsea Hander Told Me. In addition to his stand-up comedy tours, Wolf also co-hosts the podcast Josh and Ross with fellow former Chelsea Lately roundtable member Ross Mathews, in which the guys share their unique view on pop culture and the news of the day.

More: $60; April 23, 6 p.m.; Victoria Yards, 408 N. Tryon St.; tinyurl.com/JoshWolfVictoria

CINECASUAL: ‘ESPERO TUA (RE) VOLTA’

THE WILD FEATHERS

Launched in 2010, The Wild Feathers have released three critically acclaimed studio albums, one live album and toured with major acts like Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, all while continuously honing their blend of Southern rock, Americana roots and heartland pop. The Wild Feathers celebrate their decade together with Medium Rarities, an elevensong collection of previously unreleased music spanning each incarnation of their still-evolving career. The Feathers themselves served as coproducers for much of the album.

More: $15; April 24, 7 p.m.; Heist Brewery and Barrel Arts, 1030 Woodward Ave.; tinyurl.com/ WildFeathers

UNMASKED: THE GREAT SUPPRESSION

The virtual discussion series Unmasked ignites timely conversations about critical issues. The program reviews recent voting policies that continue to escalate across 47 states in 2021, pivotal content in what feels like the eye of the storm. With the passing of Georgia’s most recent restrictive voting laws, including changes such as ID requirements and limitations to absentee voting, Unmasked invites scholars and political leaders to review patterns in policy-based discrimination in order to predict how these changes will affect American voters locally and beyond.

More: Free; April 27, 7 p.m.; online; ganttcenter.org

This virtual film series presents recent, internationally acclaimed and award-winning LatinAmerican films, specially curated for the Queen City.

The documentary ESPERO TUA (RE)VOLTA depicts the Brazilian student movement from the protests of 2013 until the election of the new president, Jair Bolsonaro, in 2018. Inspired by the collective voice of the movement itself, the documentary is narrated by three high school students who represent central points of their struggle. The narrators’ jostling for space and time exposes the movement’s conflicts and demonstrates its complexity.

More: $6; April 24, 1 p.m.–11 p.m.; online; JAZZ AT VICTORIA YARDS cinecasual.com To conjure the names of the N.C. jazz greats — Nina Simone, John Coltrane, Max Roach and more — is to acknowledge magic. In 2013, Mayor Anthony Foxx declared April 30th Jazz Appreciation Day in Charlotte in recognition of the impact jazz has had on our community. To cap off Jazz Appreciation Day and International Jazz Day, JazzArts Charlotte and Charlotte Center City Partners host an outdoor live music celebration featuring artists from across the Charlotte region. The musicians will rock the outdoor stage at Victoria Yards.

More: Free; April 30, 5 p.m.; Victoria Yards, 408 N. Tryon St.; thejazzarts.org

CHA WA

GOOD TIMES

This immersive art show connects a diverse range of styles popular throughout Charlotte’s artistic community. The work is showcased through installations including a walkthrough floral experience, a wooden sculpture garden, a “Taxidermy Wall” with 20-30 hand-painted animal heads, a giant abstract UV reactive throne, and lots of other cool installations. Many of the artists — including Cheeks, Dammit Wesley, Fiberess, Fred Smith and Georgie Nakima — have long standing personal ties to the Charlotte arts scene, with many of them being alumni of Art Hole, the commissionfree gallery that closed in 2017.

More: Free; April 30–May 3; The Underground, 820 Hamilton St.; goodtimescharlotte.com/

COMMON MARKET OAKWOLD’S FOURTH BIRTHDAY

It seems like only yesterday that Common Market opened up a third uncommon store on Monroe Road. (The second Common Market being at the South End location launched in 2008.) The festive celebration will be filled with house-made tamales, sweets from Move That Dough Baking Co., ice cream from Two Scoops Creamery, funnel cakes, face painting, henna tattoos, live art, live music from Crystal Fountains and the New Creatures, and more.

Events will be held outside with masks and social distancing required.

More: $6; May 1, 12 p.m.; Common Market Oakwold; 4420 Monroe Road; commonmarketisgood.com

TITANIQUE: THE MAIDEN VOYAGE CONCERT

Titanique’s story reveals what really happened to Jack and Rose on that fateful night, as told by Céline Dion. In a plot twist far more entertaining than Titanic director James Cameron’s three-anda-half hour icy slog through the north Atlantic, Dion hijacks a Titanic Museum tour and recharts the course toward Titanic’s beloved moments. The evening features a powerhouse cast performing Céline’s iconic hits, including “My Heart Will Go On,” “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now,” and “All By Myself.”

It’s way better than seeing Billy Zane’s career sink without a trace.

More: $25; May 2, 7:30 p.m.; online; blumenthalarts. org/events

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

PG.19 PUZZLE ANSWERS

SAVAGE LOVE NUMB AND NUMBERED Break it down

BY DAN SAVAGE

I’m a cis bi guy in my forties who doesn’t have a lot of experience with other men. I’m happily married to a wonderful woman who knows I’m bi, and while we’re presently monogamous, we’ve talked about opening things up in the future. If that happens, I’d like to casually hook up with a guy once in a while, but I’m a little anxious about gay hookup culture.

1. Will a lot of guys dismiss me for being bi or married? I assume biphobia is more of an issue when looking for a relationship, rather than a hookup, but I dunno.

2. If I meet a guy and we’re going to fuck, is it weird to bring up condoms? I know: I shouldn’t be afraid to ask to use a condom, and if someone can’t respect that, I shouldn’t fuck him. I’m not and I won’t. But will most guys be a little surprised, especially with PrEP these days?

3. On that note, should I ask my doctor about PrEP when all I want is a very occasional fuck (maybe a few times a year) with someone I’ve vetted and trust about their HIV-negative or undetectable status? I want to be safe, but I don’t want to put superfluous meds in my body.

4. Is the “top shortage” I’ve read about a few times a real thing? Are a lot of guys strictly tops or bottoms?

5. And is there anything else I should know before hopping on the apps?

Pg. 23 APR 21 - MAY 4, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM

WONDERING ABOUT NAVIGATING NEW ARENAS BEFORE INDULGING

1. There are lots of biphobic gay men out there, WANNABI, but I gotta say … there are more biphobes in the straight community. Yes, straight biphobia is less gallingly hypocritical, I will grant you, but it does more harm; research has shown that having a biphobic straight spouse is the single biggest risk factor for poor mental health outcomes among bisexuals. So I’m happy to hear that your spouse accepts your bisexuality, WANNABI, and I’m going to apologize in advance for the biphobia you’ll encounter from some dumb gay men. But if all you’re after is some casual sex, WANNABI, you don’t need to disclose your bisexuality to the men you meet on the apps. You also shouldn’t assume the men you meet on

“gay” hookup apps are gay; some will be bisexual, just like you. And while biphobic gay men get all the press, WANNABI, there are lots of biphilic gay men out there — that is, gay men who are really into married “straight” men. If you don’t wanna hide the wife and don’t wanna wind up with a FWB who wants you to leave the wife for him, finding guys who are actually turned on by the fact that you have a wife at home is not a bad strategy.

2. Even at the height of the AIDS Crisis — even at a time when contracting HIV was almost invariably fatal — condoms weren’t used 100% of the time by 100% of gay and bi men.

Now with PrEP (a daily pill that prevents HIV infection) and treatments for HIV+ men that make it impossible for them to spread the virus (HIV+ men with undetectable viral loads can’t transmit the virus), fewer gay and bi men are using condoms these days. If you wanna use a condom because you’re not on PrEP and/ or you wanna protect yourself and your wife from all the sexually-transmitted infections PrEP won’t protect you from — and that would be all the other sexuallytransmitted infections out there — insist on condoms and pass on guys who argue with you about it.

3. If you wanna be able to have spontaneous and/ or anonymous sex with other men, taking PrEP daily is smart. But you can use PrEP without taking it daily if you’re having sex with other men once or twice a year and you’re making those sex dates at least a few days in advance. Intermittent or “on-demand” use of PrEP is highly effective; take two pills 24 hours before you have sex and one pill a day for two days afterwards.

4. Not all gay and bi men are into anal sex or into anal sex with casual partners, WANNABI, and while most of the men I’ve encountered — most of the men I’ve encountered the shit out of — were functionally versatile, there do seem to be more bottoms out there than tops. Not that “bottom” and “top” are static identities; a guy who’ll bottom for you might be more comfortable topping for someone else, a guy who enjoys bottoming when he’s younger might enjoy topping more later in life and vice-versa, etc.

5. Not every photo is recent, WANNABI, and not every guy is decent. Some guys will lie to get in your pants or in your ass or on your dick or on your face. Trust your gut, WANNABI, and be choosy about the guys you invite to rearrange yours.

I’m a gay male in his mid-forties living in a rainy city. I met and fell for a recently divorced guy with a few teen kids. We progressed quickly, moved to the ’burbs, made a home, and even had one of his kids come live with us. It was out

TRIVIA ANSWERS: 1. Mount Lee, Los Angeles 2. Chicago 3. “The Great Gatsby”

4. “The Andy Griffith Show” 5. Madagascar 6. Chrysanthemum 7. Germany

of character for me to move that fast, but we clicked. I thought he knew what it took to make a long-term relationship work and his post-divorce finances put him in a spot where it really helped him for us to live together.

Fast forward five years to me coming home one day with him declaring he was moving to a not-atall-rainy state with his new boyfriend. New BF had been a mutual friend who I had suspicions about, but I was told repeatedly it was all in my head. Of course the friend made a show of being “really hurt” because he felt I didn’t like him anymore for something he claimed to be innocent of but was actually quite guilty of. So yeah, textbook gaslighting by both of them.

Since then, what I want from a relationship has changed. I miss and want the emotional connection, the day-to-day stuff, the sleeping in the same bed with someone, the incidental physical affection. Sex, that’s a different story.

As soon as I have sex with someone once, maybe twice if it’s really good, I don’t want to continue seeing them.

I still want and do have sex, just not with a person I might want a relationship with. My questions: 1. How do I get this? We all know lots of relationships where the partners don’t have sex with each other anymore, but they all did in the beginning. No one wants this from the start.

2. The close friends I’ve told this to think I’m broken and or nuts. I think I’m fine. I can’t explain why this is what I want but I know it feels right. Am I nuts? Am I broken?

DOWN TO FUCK OR MARRY BUT NOT BOTH

8. A sheep 9. Atlanta Rhythm Section 10. Force

1. You ask for it. That’s no guarantee you’ll find it, of course, but it ups your chances considerably. And while it’s true most loving-but-sexless relationships were sexual at the start, DTFOMBNB, not all of them were. So if loving-but-always-sexless is what you want, well, then you should lead with that. Put it out there. There are gay asexual guys who want partners and day-to-day intimacy and someone to sleep with every night but who don’t want sex — not at the start, not ever. There are also gay cuckolds out there, DTFOMBNB, and while most wanna have sex with their “cheating” partners, some wanna be denied sex by a partner who constantly fucks around on them with other guys.

2. I don’t think you’re broken or nuts, DTFOMBNB, but something has definitely changed. What you want now, post-traumatic breakup, isn’t what you wanted before. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing … I guess … so long as you can find what you want or aren’t driven crazy by your inability to find what you want.

Because it’s definitely gonna be more difficult for you to find a partner; asexual gays and cuckold gays are out there and they’re great, for sure, but they represent tiny minorities of an already tiny minority. So I’m thinking you might wanna unpack this shit with a shrink. At the very least you need to acknowledge that what you want has changed and that it could change again. Do what and who feels right for you now but don’t lock yourself into anything — don’t sign any leases, don’t make any long-term romantic commitments, sexless or otherwise, don’t weld yourself to any self-fulfilling prophecies — at a time when you may still be numb or still be reeling from a traumatic breakup.

Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage; savagelovecast.com; mail@savagelove.net

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