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April 29-May 5, 2020 YES! WEEKLY
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APRIL 29-MAY 5, 2020 VOLUME 16, NUMBER 18
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TALKING COVID-19
Publisher CHARLES A. WOMACK III publisher@yesweekly.com
“You can’t get tested unless you’re rich or dying,” is what Carina, who works at a Triad gas station, said a Greensboro doctor regretfully told her after she asked about being tested for COVID-19. Carina, who spoke on the condition that her last name be withheld, is one of several Triad residents who talked to YES! Weekly about HAVING, OR SUSPECTING THEY HAVE COVID-19.
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EDITORIAL Editor KATIE MURAWSKI katie@yesweekly.com Contributors IAN MCDOWELL JOHN BATCHELOR KATEI CRANFORD MARK BURGER TERRY RADER JIM LONGWORTH
PRODUCTION Graphic Designers ALEX FARMER designer@yesweekly.com AUSTIN KINDLEY artdirector@yesweekly.com
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This year marks the 75th anniversary for the region’s longest-running community art school, Sawtooth School for Visual Art. Executive director Amy Jordan is inviting the community to connect online while MAKING ART AND PRACTICING WELLNESS AT HOME.
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Since people can’t go to the RIVERRUN International Film Festival this year, the festival is coming to the people. Through May 8th, audiences can watch the festival’s 2020 selection of North Carolina short films (“NC Shorts”) at no charge. As the title of the program implies, these are short films made entirely in the Tarheel State, by North Carolina filmmakers. 6 During these difficult times, and in an effort to draw attention and praise for those in the medical profession, Kino Lorber is offering a free streaming re-release of the award-winning 2014 documentary feature THE AMERICAN NURSE. 7 The Greensboro Farmers Market is reopening for CURBSIDE PICKUP. Markets will be held twice a week, Wednesdays (7-10 a.m.) and Saturdays (7a.m.-noon)
on the Revolution Mill campus, 2001 Yanceyville Street at the Textile Drive intersection, beginning Wednesday, April 29. 12 The gaps are a dizzying array of systemic shortfalls and delegated responsibility rivaled only by our federal response to the question, “WHAT THE FLIBBERTIGIBBET DO WE DO NOW?” Or, if you’re a teacher, rivaled only by business-as-usual in our state legislature, says my muse. 13 GOV. COOPER, along with the extremely competent DR. MANDY COHEN, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, and Mike Sprayberry, the Director of Emergency Management, are making strides for North Carolina to flatten the curve. 20 BRITT HARPER UZZELL, aka SNÜZZ, is “into visions” with his latest album release of the same name, out now via Bandcamp. “Into Visions is about the ability to make yourself a conduit to create something that didn’t previously exist,” said the mostly one-man-band rock ‘n’ roller, of the EP which serves his “own personal effort to make sense of the world.”
ADVERTISING Marketing TRAVIS WAGEMAN travis@yesweekly.com Promotion NATALIE GARCIA
DISTRIBUTION JANICE GANTT KYLE MUNRO CARL PEGRAM SHANE MERRIMAN JESSE GUERRA ANDREW WOMACK We at YES! Weekly realize that the interest of our readers goes well beyond the boundaries of the Piedmont Triad. Therefore we are dedicated to informing and entertaining with thought-provoking, debate-spurring, in-depth investigative news stories and features of local, national and international scope, and opinion grounded in reason, as well as providing the most comprehensive entertainment and arts coverage in the Triad. YES! Weekly welcomes submissions of all kinds. Efforts will be made to return those with a self-addressed stamped envelope; however YES! Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited submissions. YES! Weekly is published every Wednesday by Womack Newspapers, Inc. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. First copy is free, all additional copies are $1.00. Copyright 2020 Womack Newspapers, Inc.
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NASCAR is also an ‘n-word’
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[BARTENDERS OF THE WEEK | BY NATALIE GARCIA] Check out videos on our Facebook!
BARTENDER: Jimmy Huynh
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BAR: “Jimmy’s Bar” (unofficially named but the bar above Shoto)
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lip Wilson was arguably one of the most popular comedians of the 1960s and 1970s, and his signature routine was about how most Christians Jim Longworth never take responLongworth sibility for their sins. at Large Their excuse, he would say is, “the Devil made me do it.” The fact is, none of us like to own up to our mistakes. In 2006, when actor Mel Gibson was pulled over for drunk driving, he leveled an anti-Semitic rant against the police officer. Gibson’s defenders said it was the alcohol talking, but his image in Hollywood was irreparably damaged. Two years ago, Roseanne Barr posted a late-night racist tweet in which she compared Obama aide Valerie Jarrett to an ape. Barr blamed her behavior on Ambien. Nonetheless, her hit T.V. show was canceled immediately. Earlier this month, while competing in an iRacing event, 27-year-old racing star Kyle Larson called his white spotter the n-word. Not surprisingly his sponsors pulled their funding, he was subsequently fired from his team, and NASCAR suspended him indefinitely. In Larson’s case, there was no alcohol or Ambien to blame, so when he posted a brief video apology, the question arose, “What exactly is he sorry for?” Is he sorry for offending an entire race of people, or is he sorry for losing his job? I can’t know what was in Larson’s heart when he publicly used n-word, but I can tell you, generally speaking, racist words don’t just slip out accidentally, nor have the feelings behind those words just suddenly surfaced for the first time. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said of the incident, “If you don’t have that word in your vocabulary, you don’t have to be careful. If it’s not something you use, you never have to be concerned.” Darrell “Bubba” Wallace, NASCAR’s only African-American driver, echoed that sentiment. According to The Charlotte Observer’s Scott Fowler, Wallace spoke with Larson via Facetime and told the suspended driver that it was “too easy” for him to use the n-word, and that he has to “get it out of his vocabulary.” Wallace also issued a public state-
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AGE: 37 Kyle Larson ment in which he said that the n-word, “brings many terrible memories for people and families, and brings them back to a time that we as a community and human race have tried our hardest to get away from.” Wallace went on to praise NASCAR for its diversity program, and its efforts to shed its image as a “racist and redneck sport.” Obviously, though, NASCAR has a long way to go, not only in educating its drivers about culturally sensitive issues, but in leaning on teams to hire more drivers and crew chiefs of color. One team owner who didn’t need prompting to hire minorities is the King himself, Richard Petty. In 2017, Petty brought Bubba in to sub for his injured starter, Arik Almirola. Almirola then left the team, and Petty put Wallace behind the wheel of his legendary No. 43 car on a full-time basis. It’s a shame that other teams haven’t followed Petty’s lead. It’s a shame that there are no black team owners. It’s a shame that more sponsors don’t demand that teams hire African-American drivers. And it’s a shame that some people associated with racing still think it’s OK to use racist language. Perhaps these shortcomings are indicators that NASCAR hasn’t really changed at all when it comes to diversity. If so, perhaps it’s not fair to blame these folks for acting with prejudice. Perhaps the Devil makes them do it. ! JIM LONGWORTH is the host of Triad Today, airing on Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. on ABC45 (cable channel 7) and Sundays at 11 a.m. on WMYV (cable channel 15).
WHERE ARE YOU FROM? Covina, CA HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN BARTENDING? Since 2003 HOW DID YOU BECOME A BARTENDER? I started off trying to fully utilize the bar area upstairs when my family opened our restaurant and never left my post. I cut my teeth on long islands and Jager bombs, and then realized there are artisan levels of this craft out there, now I’m looking into how a bartender in the 1930s would have made a Last Word during the prohibition and what ingredients I can obtain or substitute to make it. WHAT DO YOU ENJOY ABOUT BARTENDING? Being able to tell a story about a drink and then make it while explaining. It’s like a culinary reenactment, every time. The same motions are still being done every time an old fashioned is being made. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DRINK TO MAKE? Anything I get to garnish with flowers and fruit. I like pretty and balanced drinks.
WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND AS AN AFTER-DINNER DRINK? Corpse Revivers, nothing continues a good time with something to wake the dead. WHAT’S THE CRAZIEST THINGS YOU’VE SEEN WHILE BARTENDING? It’s hard to list them all but, I recall an exotic dancer taking a flying leap from a pool table and tackling another exotic dancer. WHAT’S THE BEST TIP YOU’VE EVER GOTTEN? When your bar patrons ask you to marry them. That was such an honor. Thank you, Carl and Chrissy Weaver.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DRINK TO DRINK? Personally, it’s gin & tonics; it’s easy and hard to mess up.
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Sawtooth’s online programming aims to keep everyone creative at home
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his year marks the 75th anniversary for the region’s longest-running community art school, Sawtooth School for Visual Art. Executive director Terry Rader Amy Jordan is inviting the community to connect online Contributor while making art and practicing wellness at home. Jordan said classes are open to everyone, regardless of skill level. Sawtooth presently has more than 200 part-time and visiting specialized art instructors across 11 different mediums, along with hundreds of volunteers and interns throughout the year. Jordan said the school keeps over 6,000 of its registered students inspired to keep making art. Jordan said all spring classes had been postponed, and that students have received credits on their accounts that are redeemable for two years. She said while a few classes are helping students stay connected online, “everything had pretty much come to a complete standstill with COVID-19.” She said they are presently operating on an adaptation grant from the Winston-Salem Foundation, “COVID-19 Response Fund for Forsyth County.” Jordan is wearing a lot of hats to keep things going, and at the same time, she’s learning a lot of new skills, but her main focus right now is funding for nonprofit. Aside from Sawtooth’s financial director and herself, the staff of 13 full and parttime employees were laid off on April 1. Jordan said that hopefully, these layoffs are temporary, but they would need extra funding to bring their staff back, and to reopen. She said their contract instructors might be eligible for unemployment benefits due to the new laws, but “many of them really depended on this income, and upon community donations more than ever to sustain them,” she said. “All these instructors are artists in our community, and we want to do all we can to support them.” Jordan said there presently two online classes confirmed including a livestream painting class with Victoria Majestic, YES! WEEKLY
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Victoria Majestic’s Portrait Painting, Printmaking Group and that Sawtooth is in the process of adding a printmaking project class that students can do at home with a supply kit through the school’s partner Speedball Art Products. Jordan said Kim Gondring, Sawtooth’s wood instructor, made and donated bluebird house kits as a way to give people things to do at home. The cost of these kits will act as a donation to support Sawtooth in this difficult time, with all proceeds going to Warren Moyer Youth Scholarship Fund. Jordan said that some instructors have also donated their time to give back to the community in upcoming online projects and demos that can be done at home; these demos include, “Building a Wind Chime out of Clay” with Grace Kooken, and “Weaving on a Frame Loom” with the director of Sawtooth’s Art + Wellness programming, Emily Badalamente. Badalamente also has a “How to Make Face Masks” video on Sawtooth’s “From the Director’s Studio” Facebook and Instagram pages, which gives viewers
Alice Rachel Bragg with Gondring’s Bluebird House a look inside the instructor’s home studios so they can showcase their projects. Jordan noted that Badalamente had provided 60 plus masks to individuals, with some going to health care providers in New York City. Jordan said she helped launch the Art + Wellness program in 2013 and hired Badalamenete as its director because she has provided art therapy and therapeutic art programming in inpatient and outpatient mental health treatment centers, community outreach programs with
adults and children that have intellectual and developmental disabilities, and with cancer patients and survivors. The Art + Wellness program has grown to over 1,376 cancer survivors, Jordan said. Seth Charles, Sawtooth’s ceramics director, is another participating instructor, who has two videos for Sawtooth’s “From the Director’s Studio” that demonstrate wheel throwing, as well as trimming bowls for Second Harvest NWNC’s Empty Bowls event in June. Jessica Tefft, the director of photography and digital media, also has a video demonstrating “Digital Drawing with Procreate App and iPad or iPhone.” Badalamente also has a “How to Make Face Masks” video, and she has provided 60 plus masks to individuals, with some going to health care providers in New York City. Jordan said that she believes that art and wellness live in every single studio at Sawtooth. She said she hears that these classes are where students “get their energy.” She said that one school psychologist who has attended Sawtooth for years said it gave her a place to unwind from the stress of her day. “People are turning to all forms of art to get through this,” Jordan said. “Students have been coming to Sawtooth for 75 years, and they get it. That is why they continue to stay connected and engaged in art and wellness. As a community of artists, providing art, we want to continue to be an arts resource for our community, not only now, while in our homes, but when our studios open back up. Students say that it’s not the same online, making art and the benefits of a creative life are a reality at Sawtooth. Through the visual arts process, we find a place of respite and creative identity. Sawtooth is your space to create.” ! TERRY RADER is a freelance writer/editorial/content/ copy, creative consultant/branding strategist, communications outreach messenger, poet and emerging singer/songwriter.
WANNA
see?
Visit Sawtooth’s website, www.sawtooth.org. Videos “From the Directors’ Studios” can be viewed on Facebook and Instagram. To donate, visit https://secure.givelively.org/donate/ the-sawtooth-school-for-visual-art/sawtoothsustainability-fund, (336) 723-7395.
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RiverRun’s North Carolina ‘Shorts’ are screening for free Since people can’t go to the RiverRun International Film Festival this year, the festival is coming to the people. Through May 8, audiences can watch the festival’s 2020 selection of North Carolina short Mark Burger films (“N.C. Shorts”) at no charge. As the title of the Contributor program implies, these are short films made entirely in the Tarheel State, by North Carolina filmmakers. As well as showcasing international cinema, RiverRun is dedicated to celebrating those talented filmmakers who live and work in North Carolina. Rob Davis, executive director of the festival, explained: “RiverRun has a legacy of showcasing North Carolina filmmakers, and we’re especially pleased to be sharing this year’s shorts as 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of the North Carolina Film Office,” he said. “Founded in 1980 by Governor James B. Hunt, the office was commissioned to help facilitate and provide a base of operation for North Carolina’s burgeoning film industry. “That industry has grown incredibly over the years, and we are thrilled to honor that by offering these North Carolina shorts to our viewers during these times of in-home entertainment.” N.C. Shorts are divided into two blocks. The first can be accessed at www.riverrunfilm.com/film/nc-shorts-1-2020/. The second can be accessed at, www. riverrunfilm.com/film/nc-shorts-2-2020/. During this time, viewers can also learn about the production of these films from the filmmakers themselves, as many will be highlighted in a “Meet the Filmmakers” series on RiverRun’s social media channels. This special presentation is being sponsored by Nelson Mullins. “N.C. Shorts” Block 1 includes All the Possibilities ...(directed by Marsha Gordon and Louis Cherry), which examines Vernon Pratt’s 1,450-square-foot painting All The Possibilities of Filling in Sixteenths, completed in 1982 but only exhibited recently; April Eighty-Nine (directed by Thom Southerland), a drama in which a woman reflects back on a road trip she took 30 years before; Blue & Gold Marching Machine (directed by Alyson Vermillion, Nathan Burton, and Jenifer Hughey) celebrates the 100th year of the North Carolina A&T Marching Band; WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM
Bulls and Saints (directed by Rodrigo Dorfman), a documentary based on a love letter penned by an immigrant bull rider to his wife back in Mexico; Hebo (directed by Kevin Wells) chronicles the work of Sam Ezell, an outsider folk artist and life-long collector of folk art based in Hillborough; The Ice Climber (directed by Jacob Stadler) follows Anthony, whose love of climbing frozen waterfalls is compromised by responsibilities to his family; Quilt Journeys (directed by Atinuke Diver and Maracel Guevera) examines a community of black women who live in the Hayti community of Durham; Sound and Sole (directed by Cara Hagen) showcases Arthur Grimes, the only black buck dancer in Boone, and his love for Appalachian music, dance, and history; and Ups & Downs (directed by Christian Green) offers a unique take on Wake Forest University, as students discuss its many stairways.
“N.C. Shorts” Block 2 includes Alley Rats (directed by Sean Breitkreutz) is a drama about two childhood friends who reunite for a night of revelry in an effort to escape reality; Blues & Hues (directed by Jordan McLaughlin) follows a pair of thieves questioning their chosen way of life; Camilla, Keep Your Word (directed by Holland Gallagher) is a romantic drama set against the backdrop of Hurricane Katrina in 2005; Corporate Clueless (directed by Evan Pease) is a satire that sees a corporate team-building activity turn into a full-scale calamity; The Deep End (directed by Emma Grace Right) follows a youngster with Down Syndrome who is invited to a party by a new classmate; Godspeed (directed by Sade Abiodun) depicts the coming-of-age of a young black girl through poetry, music, and visuals; Inoculation (directed by Andrew Harrell and Patrick Nichols) sees a troubled couple contending with an impending
environmental catastrophe; Interstate 8 (directed by Anne Thieme) follows two young women who meet by chance in a police car and are confronted with injustice; Long Drive to Yadkin (directed by Parris Stikeleather) sees a man visiting his neighborhood barber shop one last time; and Too Much Rain (directed by John Cernak) is an animated short about perseverance and hope, produced by Winston-Salem’s Out of Our Minds Studios. ! See MARK BURGER’s reviews of current movies on Burgervideo.com. © 2020, Mark Burger.
WANNA
watch?
The 23 annual RiverRun International Film Festival is scheduled to take place April 8-18, 2021. For more information about the festival, visit the official website:www.riverrunfilm.com/. rd
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Saluting the heroes in white
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uring these difficult times, and in an effort to draw attention and praise for those in the medical profession, Kino Lorber is offering a free Mark Burger streaming re-release of the award-winning 2014 documenContributor tary feature The American Nurse. The documentary, which marked writer Carolyn Jones’s debut as executive producer and director, focuses on the lives of five American nurses, the duties and hardships they face, the help and comfort that they give their patients, and how their chosen profession has impacted their lives and the lives of those around them. The five nurses profiled are Jason Short, Tonia Faust, Naomi Cross, Brian McMillion, and Sister Stephen. Each hails from a different background, yet each has a common bond in their selfless service to others. This film garnered considerable acclaim. John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter called The American Nurse “a compassionate and psychologically revealing doc … Some of the stories are quite moving, and in many cases the act of all but giving one’s entire life to this underpaid profession seems to have satisfied a deep emotional need.” Cynthia Fuchs of PopMatters.com observed: “The film’s connections between scenes – within single storylines and also across the experiences of the various nurses – construct an emotional and moral through-line, beyond particular place or crisis. The interviews
with subjects provide some remarkable details of individual lives, descriptions of determining events and motivations.” This marks the sixth anniversary since the film’s theatrical release in May 2014, and its re-release coincides with National Nurses Week. In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) – which has certainly been in the headlines lately – designated 2020 as the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. This free presentation comes courtesy
Fresenius Kabi, which also supported the development and production of The American Nurse and corresponding nonfiction book. Fresenius Kabi’s purpose is to provide life-saving medicines and technologies in the hands of nurses and other care-givers, and to help find answers to the challenges they face. “The people of Fresenius Kabi stand shoulder to shoulder with the nation’s health-care professionals to support their heroic and selfless actions on the
front lines of caring for life,” said John Ducker, the president and CEO of Fresenius Kabi in North America, in an official statement. “We are proud to support a film that shares with the public and honest look at the brave nurses who are helping our country through such a challenging time. Our hope is that this film also inspires many to consider a career in nursing.” The film was inspired by the success of Jones’s book, The American Nurse: Photographs and Interviews, which was published in 2012 and is currently in its fourth printing. “Nurses matter now more than ever,” said Jones. “They are on the frontlines of our health-care system every single day. At some point in our life each of us will encounter a nurse, whether it be as a patient or as a loved one. And that one encounter can mean the difference between suffering and peace, between chaos and order. With nurses risking their lives today responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, I am so glad that we are able to make the film available to people in their homes for free.” Richard Lorber, the president and CEO of Kino Lorber, added: “We are humbled to have been selected to offer this important and timely film for free to viewers, honoring the heroic work of nurses. It’s a film all of us need to see right now to fully appreciate heroes who are always at the front lines working hard to protect and service. The American Nurse is available for free at, www.kinonow.com/. For more information about The American Nurse Project, visit www. americannurseproject.com/. ! See MARK BURGER’s reviews of current movies on Burgervideo.com. © 2020, Mark Burger.
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John Batchelor’s recommendations for takeout: Part V
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his week, we find several significant new developments, in addition to ongoing personal endorsements in this series. The Greensboro Farmers Market is reopening for curbside pickup. Markets will be held twice a week, Wednesdays (7-10 a.m.) and Saturdays (7a.m.-noon) on the Revolution Mill campus, 2001 Yanceyville St. at the Textile Drive intersection, beginning Wednesday, April 29. You must place an order and pay in advance, directly with the vendor. Schedule a pickup time. Make a sign showing your last name and the vendor name and place it on your dashboard when you arrive. Go to GSOfarmersmarket.org to see a list of vendors and sign up for e-mailings. I miss my regular Saturday morning visits, but this is the next best thing! The Undercurrent (undercurrentrestaurant.com, 327 Battleground Ave., 336370-1266) is re-opening with a “virtual wine dinner” on Saturday, May 9. Go to the website to register. You will pick up ready to heat meal kits, photos and instructions for plating, plus three bottles of wine, between 1 and 5 that afternoon. Zoom platform wine discussion and meal begins at 7 p.m. Winery host is Laurence Vuelta of Trinchero Family Estates. First course will be Poached Scallops and Shrimp with salad and lemon poppyseed dressing, paired with Napa Cellars Chardonnay. Smoked Duck Breast with sweet potatoes and beets, plus raspberrysorghum gastrique and pink peppercorncocoa charmoula, along with Joel Gott Santa Barbara Pinot Noir follows. Main course is Pork Tenderloin wrapped in country ham with roasted tomato stuffed twice baked potato, blackened French beans, and balsamic-blackberry Reduction, plus a side of marinated fresh fennel, accompanied by Folie a Deux Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Dessert is Strawberry-Ruby Chocolate Cheesecake with graham cracker-macadamia nut crust (same wine as entrée). Cost for the dinner, including three bottles of wine, is $130. The restaurant will host a virtual dinner party with different themes every Saturday until full reopening. A Kentucky Derby cuisine and cocktail conversation with cocktail kits will substitute for the actual race on Derby Day. Reel Seafood Grill (reelseafoodgrill. com, 2002 New Garden Rd., 336-6174200) has long been a personal favorite.
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Sign up for direct emails on the website. A menu that includes perennial favorites plus new items is posted each week. Reel has a new chef- Tim Bocholis, formerly of Bistro B in Kernersville, which was another favorite of mine. He brings a wide range of training and experience in Spanish, Greek, and Latin American cuisines, including a stint under the illustrious Jose Andres, to the seafood dominant menu. Now, you’ll see a wider range of meats. In addition to Seafood Gumbo and Shrimp Bisque, Feijoada- Brazilian beef stew with avocado- appears on this week’s menu. After finishing a Tuna Nicoise salad last week, I concluded it was the best I have ever had- roasted red peppers, haricot verts, asparagus, boiled egg, black olives, and capers, over arugula salad dressed in balsamic vinaigrette. The Argentinian Steak Salad over spinach, with hearts of palm, avocado, blue cheese, and roasted pepper tapenade is another interesting addition. Among the entrees, Chargrilled Antarctic Salmon over cous cous and arugula salad ladled with citrus beurre blanc; Arroz Caldoso- scallops, shrimp, mussels, calamari, and fish with mushrooms and red bell peppers; Chicken Jambalaya with tasso ham and andouille sausage, red beans and rice, and fresh collards all fit Reel’s original theme. Chef’s additions include Lamb Lollipops in Greek style marinade with garlic mashed potatoes and summer vegetables, Steak au Poivre- Certified Angus Beef seared in duck fat with mushroom Dijon cream sauce plus potatoes and green vegetable, and Argentine style Ribeye with chimichurri, accompanied by rosemary potato gratin and summer vegetables. Hours are 4-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday. Curbside, contactless pickup is the standard procedure. It was interesting to see that North Carolina alcoholic beverage sales in ABC stores have increased significantly since confinement began. In a survey that I cannot verify but strongly support, almost 50 percent of respondents reported drinking while working at home. Who says work can’t be fun? Rioja (riojawinebar.com, 1603 Battleground Ave., 336-412-0011) is an excellent place to go for advice about wines with your meals. Jake Assaf is one of only a handful of Certified Sommeliers in our area. He is hosting virtual tastings and discussions online for groups. Register and receive wines wrapped and numbered, prior to the Zoom discussion. Of course, you
could also call and tell him what you are fixing and let him recommend something to go with it. An online wine store makes ordering easy. Pickups are available 4-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Free delivery for orders of $95 or more is provided as well. Drink wine, not bleach or disinfectant! !
JOHN BATCHELOR has been writing about eating and drinking since 1981. Over a thousand of his articles have been published. He is also author of two travel/ cookbooks: Chefs of the Coast: Restaurants and Recipes from the North Carolina Coast, and Chefs of the Mountains: Restaurants and Recipes from Western North Carolina. Contact him at john.e.batchelor@gmail.com or see his blog, johnbatchelordiningandtravel.blogspot.com.
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[NEWS OF THE WEIRD] POLICE REPORT
BRIGHT IDEAS
Early on the morning of April 15, an unidentified driver smashed his yellow Mustang into a fence in unincorporated Marin County, California, KPIX reported. California Chuck Shepherd Highway Patrol Officer Andrew Barclay later recounted what followed: The driver tried to back out of the fence, but failed to realize he was in drive and crashed through a home instead. The homeowner came out to investigate and, noting the driver’s impaired state, removed the keys from the Mustang and returned inside to call police. The driver then discovered the keys inside the homeowner’s Toyota and tried to make his getaway, Barclay said, but he shifted the car into drive and barreled through the house once more, coming to rest alongside his Mustang. When the homeowner again tried to take the keys away, the driver allegedly hit him repeatedly, causing major injuries. CHP arrested the driver for suspicion of DUI involving drugs, battery and theft of a vehicle.
QUALITY & VA
— Many hospital workers are self-isolating to keep their families safe from COVID-19 exposure, but Corpus Christi, Texas, emergency room doctor Jason Barnes, 39, is taking a novel approach: He’s moved into his kids’ treehouse in his backyard. Barnes told the Caller Times on April 20 that he’s lived in the treehouse for about three weeks. If he needs something, he’ll shout down to the kids or call the house. “(T)he Wi-Fi reaches the treehouse, so I have my laptop and my own little command center here,” Barnes said. He uses a camping toilet with disposable bags, and he either showers at the hospital or “my oldest son will rig up a water hose. ... Luckily, my fence is pretty tall.” As for when he can re-enter the house, Barnes said, “We’re always looking at the CDC and Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision, but the final determinator is the wife.” — The Washington Examiner reported on April 21 that some people appear to be spending their coronavirus stimulus checks on another kind of stimulation. The adult live model site Cams.com says it has seen a surge in traffic. “Since April 13, we’ve seen a 22% uptick in traffic to our livestreaming site, and tips to our models have increased by 40%,” said Gunner Taylor, director of
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strategic development for FriendFinder Networks, of which Cams.com is a part. Traffic from Washington state is up 204%, and it’s up 83% in Illinois, but it’s down in Washington, D.C., by 29%.
THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT
At the Peace N Peas Farm in Indian Trail, North Carolina, owners Francie and Mark Dunlap have launched a new career for their 8-year-old mini donkey, Mambo, and their other horses. For $50, Mambo, Eddie, Zeus or other animals will make a 10-minute guest appearance to liven up your next videoconference, the Charlotte Observer reported. You can even give the four-legged interloper the on-screen name of a regular attendee: For instance, Zeus might become Paul, the guy who asks too many questions. The Dunlaps also arrange for their animals to visit classrooms or happy hours.
REPORTS OF MY DEATH
Cancer patient Gladys Rodriguez Duarte, 50, was rushed to a clinic in Coronel Oviedo, Paraguay, on April 11, after her blood pressure shot up, according to the Paraguay National Police. Two hours later, Dr. Heriberto Vera declared her dead and shared the news with Duarte’s family, but her daughter, Sandra, later told local media, “He assumed she was dead and ... they disconnected her and passed her off to the funeral home.” The Daily Mail reported that funeral directors told investigators they were shocked to find she was breathing and moving around inside the body bag at the funeral home. Duarte was immediately transferred to another hospital for observation.
THE CONTINUING CRISIS
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Geauga County (Ohio) Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand told WJW his office was called to break up a large party of Amish late on April 18 in Huntsburg Township. “When we got there, there was a barn full of people and some of them ran,” he said. One partier was arrested for disorderly conduct, two were charged with underage drinking and another was issued a summons for violating the state’s stay-at-home order, according to the sheriff. “We won’t tolerate this,” Hildenbrand said, “and we have to keep everybody safe.” Amish people are reportedly continuing to gather in large groups, and the county health commissioner has sent a letter to Amish bishops about an increase in COVID-19 cases in that community.
NOT COVID-19
An unnamed 22-year-old Chinese woman has spent the last 14 years trying to
discover the cause of her persistent cough, which started when she suffered a serious fit of coughing as a child, Oddity Central reported on April 22. Over the years, she has been misdiagnosed numerous times, but as she recently prepared for an unrelated surgery, the mystery was solved. Dr. Wang Jiyong at Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine ordered CT scans that revealed a foreign object in her right lung that turned out to be a chicken bone fragment just over half an inch long. Doctors said she had probably inhaled it at 8 years old, when the coughing started.
IGNORANCE WAS BLISS
Elena Manighetti and Ryan Osborne, formerly of Manchester, England, followed their dream and have been sailing around the world on their boat since 2017. They were en route from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean, where they planned to dock on a small island in mid-March, but were surprised to discover the island’s borders were closed because of a worldwide pandemic. “In February, we’d heard there was a virus in China, but ... we had figured by the time we got to the Caribbean in 25 days it would all be over,” Elena told the BBC. The couple had told friends and family they didn’t want to hear any bad news, but Elena is from the hard-hit Lombardy region of Italy and has since caught up with her family. “It’s a very macabre picture at home, there are no more coffins, no more cemetery space. ... My family is thankfully safe ... but people we’ve known for years have died,” Elena said. The couple was eventually able to dock in Saint Vincent, and they hope to head north before hurricane season starts in June. “We’re sandwiched between the hurricane season and the virus,” Elena said.
NUMBERS GAME
Doriana Fontanella contacted KDVR in Denver to report that she’s been inundated with phone calls recently and she suspects she know why: Her mobile phone number is just one digit off Colorado’s fax number for the Department of Labor and Employment, where people are trying to send applications for unemployment claims. “There’s a real need out there, and I needed to let people know that I’m not the one they want,” Fontanella told the station’s Problem Solvers team. “I see on the news they’re saying they can’t get any response from unemployment, and I think that’s because they’re not getting the right number.” !
© 2020 Chuck Shepherd. Universal Press Syndicate. Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.
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You can’t get tested unless you’re rich or dying,” is what Carina, who works at a Triad gas station, said a Greensboro doctor regretfully told her after she Ian McDowell asked about being tested for COVID-19. Carina, who spoke on Contributor the condition that her last name be withheld, is one of several Triad residents who talked to YES! Weekly about having, or suspecting they have COVID-19. Carina said she went to an urgent care “especially set aside to handle possible COVID-19 cases” after a painful cough turned into bronchitis. She described the doctor as concerned and frustrated that she could not get tested. “He said he couldn’t, either, which isn’t an ideal situation for a medical provider.” This particular visit was on April 5. Carina said he was one of five providers she consulted between March 31 and April 16, all of whom suspected she might have COVID-19. “One telemedicine doctor, two urgent care doctors, my pulmonologist, and my neurologist for an unrelated CPAP consult. My neurologist discussed my symptoms in depth with me, as respiratory issues affect CPAP performance. She seemed very sure I had it.” Carina said she first became sick on March 23, when she awoke with a fever of 102. Two days later, she was experiencing intense coughing and shortness of breath, along with intermittent low-grade fever and body aches. Then she lost her sense of smell. The CDC recently added loss of sense of smell and taste to its COVID-19 symptoms list. Early anecdotal evidence suggested this symptom was most common in people in their early 20s, but Carina is in her early 40s. She said she did not entirely lose her sense of taste. “It was dulled by about 50%. About 25 days later, both senses returned, but a faint metallic taste remains.” She said that the cough was the worst part. “I’ve tried everything—OTC, prescriptions that I already had on hand, and natural remedies. Sometimes just breathing YES! WEEKLY
APRIL 29-MAY 5, 2020
Talking COVID-19 with people who had it or believe they do
triggered it. I finally had to get a narcotic cough syrup in order to be able to sleep, and even that doesn’t work 100%. I have moderate asthma anyway and while there’s some evidence that it doesn’t increase mortality with COVID-19, it certainly made things a whole lot worse as far as the coughing.” She still suffers from shortness of breath and exhaustion. “I have brain fog and need extra mental effort to do the same things that normally I would do easily. It comes in waves. I will feel better, then worse, then better, then worse— like a roller coaster, but one that you don’t know when it will end.” The gas station where she worked is a few minutes outside of Greensboro. “I suspect I got this from a long-haul trucker, as they like to hang out and talk, but I can’t be sure.” Other than exhaustion, she mostly feels anger. “People don’t understand how bad this is. Not even the dying part, which is absolutely horrible in and of itself, but how this illness can just take you out of commission. While I’m not an athlete, I eat healthy and keep my mind and body active. I know what flu and colds and pneumonia feel like. This kicked my ass sideways. It is not just a cold. It is not just the flu, although the flu is pretty awful, too. But this is beyond any respiratory illness I’ve ever had.” Carina recommends getting a thermometer and a pulse oximeter. “This will help you know when things are getting really serious and helps you provide relevant and timely information to health providers that can’t examine you in person.” Unlike Carina, Montana Heinbach was able to get tested and confirmed as a COVID-19 positive. That’s because, while she’s from Guilford County, the 21-year-
old works at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill. Before talking with Heinbach, Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan told YES! Weekly that “in Guilford County, we’re not doing widespread testing. Some other counties are doing much more testing than we are.” This, Vaughan said, is because “they have a larger hospital system and research hospitals, so they have more access to tests and to personal protective equipment (PPE).” Despite UNC Hospitals’ greater access to those things, Heinbach said it was not easy for her to get tested, even though she works with high-risk patients in the ICU. She said she started feeling sick on March 10. “I thought I had a cold for about four or five days. I managed it with decongestant and Ibuprofen; I felt fine and continued to work. But then I made my favorite desert, Rice Krispies Treats—treats with Lucky Charms in them, and found I couldn’t taste them. Next morning, I made some coffee and couldn’t smell it at all.” A couple of days later, when she saw the first anecdotal reports that this might be a new symptom, she became concerned, as it was said to be most prevalent in young people. She called Occupational Health (OH), a hospital employee resource for those who get sick or injured at work. Because the CDC had not reported these
symptoms, OH seemed unconcerned. “I then called the UNC Health COVID-19 hotline for Orange County,” she said. “They weren’t super-convinced, but put me on a video chat with a physician who works at UNC. I told him my symptoms and said I was afraid of putting my patients at risk. I also told him that I live with four girls who had recently returned from spring break. Hearing that, he gave me a referral to get tested. He said he’d spoken to about 80 people, and had only referred two for testing.” On March 17, she drove to a testing site in Chapel Hill, which she described as five to six tents in a cordoned-off parking lot. “Security guards were there covered from head to toe in masks, gloves and PPE gear,” Heinbach recalled. “They took my temperature and asked me what my symptoms were. I didn’t have a temperature and had yet to experience symptoms other than loss of taste and smell. A nurse approached and said I didn’t really fit the criteria to get tested and asked why I was there. I said, ‘no, no, please, I have a referral.’ They checked the paperwork and let me go through.” At a nursing station, she was told to roll her window down and tilt her head back so a nasal swab could be performed.
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“It took 20 seconds and was very uncomfortable. They go all the way back with the 4-inch Q-tip. They said the results could take up to four days, as they test you for Influenza One, Influenza Two, and a third lung condition— I don’t recall which. Only after ruling those out, do they test your swab for COVID-19.” She was sent home with instructions on how to self-quarantine. To her surprise, she received her results about eight hours later. She’d tested positive. “I started crying,” Heinbach admitted. “I’d been reading the reports day by day, the mortality rate, all that, as I’m a science major and had been super interested ever since I first heard of it. I’d been thinking about the repercussions of the virus, which nobody is certain of right now, so it was a little scary for me.” It wasn’t until a week later that she began to experience symptoms beyond loss of smell and taste. “My throat started really hurting, I got awful body aches, my fever reached 102.7. Those were pretty much my only other symptoms. After about three days, they began to recede, and I started to gradually feel better. What lingered was a huge constant headache, which I had from the 18th until the 28th. After my two-week quaranWWW.YESWEEKLY.COM
tine was up, I went to work. Now, it’s been over a month, and I still don’t have any taste or smell.” Heinbach said she’s gotten calls for her plasma from UNC Hospitals and the American Red Cross. “I’ve not been told what kind of antibodies I have, but I’ve been giving my plasma once a week just to try to help anyone I can.” Although she is grateful to have gotten test results back so quickly, she said she would prefer that the North Carolina health care system concentrate on more accurate tests rather than faster ones. “I’ve read that, with the current tests, one out of every three gives a false negative,” she explained. “I was talking to a nurse who had worked at Duke, and she told me that they had tested one of her patients three times via a nasal swab. All came back negative. Then they took a stool sample and it came back positive.” In Greensboro, even a city official exposed to an infected person was not tested. At the April 21 meeting of the Greensboro City Council, at-large representative Michelle Kennedy talked about having been exposed while performing her duties as director of the Interactive Research Center. Kennedy later gave YES!
Weekly the following statement: “All employees of the IRC were exposed over a three-day period during the last week of March to a person who later tested positive for COVID-19. It was workplace exposure by another essential worker. It is important to note that it was not an employee of the IRC or a person residing in shelter. No one residing in [the] shelter was exposed. It is also important to note that we were never contacted or notified by the Guilford County Health Department regarding this situation.” Kennedy stated that neither she nor her co-workers were tested. “In accordance with health care guidance for essential workers, we continued to work each day and closely monitored for symptoms.” Kennedy described the experience of waiting two weeks to see if symptoms manifested. “We had to wait it out without being tested because none of us displayed symptoms. Upon notification of exposure, I immediately consulted with folks from Cone and a group of other health care experts. We were already utilizing screenings and best practices at work and at home. I have a 12-year-old and 7-month-old at home. My spouse falls into the high-risk category. She is a social worker and several days each month she also has to go into her office.” Kennedy described going home every day as an exercise in caution. “I immediately take a shower, take everything I’ve worn to the laundry to wash immediately after that, wash my hands so often they hurt, check my family’s temperature twice a day, don’t kiss my daughters, monitor everyone for any symptoms, and hope we all make it through OK.” She described the day she discovered she’d been exposed as the worst. “I came straight home and called to ask Allyson to meet me outside so I could tell her. I sat in my car for two hours while making calls to determine next steps for myself and my staff. I just kept looking at our house from the driveway, thinking about my family, my staff and the families of my staff. It was miserable. The next several days while we waited things out was emotionally hard for everyone involved. The level of uncertainty and concern really can’t be understated.” “We have to do more testing,” said Mayor Vaughan at the April 21 council meeting. “I believe there is more virus around the community than we actually account for.” Carina told YES! Weekly that she shares that concern, and the mayor and city council’s concern that Guilford County may have ended its stay-at-home order too early (although both city and statewide orders remains in effect).
“I think it’s unwise. We’re in the top four for deaths by county (at least right now) and have one of the highest positive tests to death ratios in the state. Loosening restrictions is not smart with those kinds of numbers.” The people most available for interviews about their COVID-19 experiences are those who’ve not required hospitalization. Those in Guilford and Forsyth County ICUs are neither accessible to the press nor in any condition to speak. Nor do the families of the recently-deceased welcome interviews. Recently, University of North Carolina at Greensboro employee Dave McFayden made several comments on the Greater Greensboro Politics Facebook group, where he posted that a close friend’s father and uncle had both died from COVID-19 within the space of a few days. When contacted by YES! Weekly, McFayden offered the following statement on the condition that the family in question not be named. “About three weeks ago, my old friend [redacted] texted me that his uncle was on a ventilator at Wesley Long. Two days later, he let me know his uncle had passed. Shortly after that, he told me his mom was in the hospital. They sent her home within a couple of days, with oxygen. His brother lives there with her, as did his dad at the time. The brother also tested positive for COVID-19.” Last Sunday, McFayden said his friend texted him. “He wrote that his father had been complaining about shortness of breath, but was toughing it out. His wife called an ambulance, because it had gotten bad. They hauled his father off in it, and he was sitting up, giving the ‘thumbs up’ to her as they rode off. Three hours later, he was dead.” McFayden had some angry things to say about the protesters who gathered last week (and again this Tuesday) in Raleigh to demand that North Carolina “reopen.” Carina was more sympathetic. “I understand their frustration. I have been at points in my life where I wasn’t sure how I was going to eat next week. I’m also not surprised that a country that was founded on not wanting to be told what to do rebels when being told what to do. I do think it shows a lack of nuanced understanding and I hope the protestors eventually come to realize what they did was foolish, stupid, and just plain ignorant. Freedom means nothing when you’re dead. People forgot that when the Spanish Flu happened and they’re forgetting it again now.” ! IAN MCDOWELL is the author of two published novels, numerous anthologized short stories, and a whole lot of nonfiction and journalism, some of which he’s proud of and none of which he’s ashamed of. APRIL 29-MAY 5, 2020
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What the flibbertigibbet do we do now?
BY JULIA ABRAMS | Contributor
have to make this quick— it’s almost noon, and my highschooler will be rolling out of bed any minute to ignore “breakfast” and log on for her assignments or marathon FaceTime with her BFF. Either way, I’ll need to ration one of my devices worth of “fi,” and that requires valuable problem-solving skills in a fraught environment. Nevertheless, I muse my relative wealth of choices: to really care or kind of care or even remember, if she’s proceeding studiously. While reality scurries around its shiny new hamster wheel of fading expectations, I also wonder what is any outcome and particularly an equitable outcome that includes other kids who have yet to engage with their new educational protocols? The gaps are a dizzying array of systemic shortfalls and delegated responsibility rivaled only by our federal response to the question, “What the flibbertigibbet do we do now?” Or, if you’re a teacher,
rivaled only by business-as-usual in our state legislature, says my muse. In a sane world, the obvious answer would be, to paraphrase Hank Shakespeare: “Do nothing about much.” Just let the second semester go, everybody who hasn’t yet emigrated to a country with universal health care gets a passing grade and a free yearbook. They’re very young and have plenty of time for academic achievement and crushing student debt. There’s really no strict timeline in life, for that measure of parental pride. Alas, life is also a circle, and this fruit loops endlessly back to the system we do have on planet America. The webtoe curriculum forced on teachers and students, and its spectrum of actualization isn’t even remotely the problem. The kids understand this. It’s why they’re all doing their best impression of vitamin-D deficiency—chatting and giggling with their blue-blockers and midnight baking sessions, virtually together, at the end of the world. No, the problem—the anxiety, the
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In a sane world, the obvious answer would be, to paraphrase Hank Shakespeare: “Do nothing about much.”
depression, and the stand-your-haircut movement all stem from our systemic inability to ever, under any circumstance or threat of death, do the right thing. I am pretty sure I undersold that last point. As of this edit to my daily search for meaning and one AirPod, everybody who is percent-challenged, pretty much cannot do various combinations of the following: - Go to work with the confidence of safe outcomes - Go to work - Work without wondering when the furlough tolls for thee - Leave young children home alone to go to work - Work “essentially” for wages reflective of the risk - Work the system (whose name shall not be mentioned) for unemployment benefits - Work with a bank for the relief promised and promoted during an election year - Offer working wages to employees of a business closed for public safety Leaves one with feelings of anger and worklessness, no? Perhaps the remedy for this embargo on our lives and livelihoods isn’t selfcare. It’s not retrenchment to homebaked bread or redoubled spirit of generosity in troubled times. We’ve been tilling all manner of mantra, meditation, bandage, share, salve, cure, treatment, and even disinfectant (not to be administered internally— no matter the girth of the podium or stability of the genius) for decades, for our malaise, with questionable results.
The band-aid can be ripped off now; it was never doing much anyway. Crafting our way back to shore is the same old tactic in need of a strategy, as ever it was. My proposition is the other side of that Dunning-Krugerrand we call work. To our elected: Just give us the money. It’s ours, ya yammering, weaponized spuds! Real talk, pay everybody what they made last year. Pump the breaks on the rapacious opacity and Griftmasgiving that’s no longer mitigated by millions of laborers turning, turning, and turning, to obfuscate this dark, brittle truth—maybe do it just this once. It won’t lift millions out of poverty, but it does have the fiduciary appeal of simplicity. It’s a foundation of, and space for, further innovation, compensation, and sanity-based meritocratic machinations. It would make us “something” again. Capitalism won’t really care—that recyclables barge has, lately, taken on a Mr. Creosote-vibe and threatens us all with impending, toxic spew. It is simultaneously dysfunctional and despised while consuming every thought and stimulus. Also, capitalism was never more than an idea some dude had anyways. Just like all good market ideas, Mr. Capital can bootstrap that shiz down the road, or Google it for more ideas. Welcome to the wheel world, Mr. C. In a further appeal, I’m going to use some fiscal buzzwords to elucidate my meaning here. Just giving our money back to us is: - A starting point for how we “work” to kill as few people as possible - A fresh new treatise on “worth” in a society that’s long-abandoned any but its most transactional definition - A guarantee of “economic stability” for our voracious overlords. (Even if it doesn’t reach the level of oligarchic fever-dream, it will do for now; a “longterm investment,” if you will.) - A veritable “savings” over what we are doing, as we prop up already overleveraged industry, check the mailbox for some trickle and never mention the fact that widespread unemployment means no customers, zombie virus, or otherwise. It is “winning” of a verifiable nature. Anyway, yes— I’m poignantly aware that we can’t have nice things. Still, it’s worth a ponder in the perspective allotted us by distance. !
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North Carolina is staying ahead of the curve because of our leadership I am so proud to be a North Carolinian. That is something I thought I would never say about myself again—especially after our former fear-mongering governor signed a bigoted and ecoKatie Murawski nomically devastating “bathroom bill” into law for Editor absolutely no reason based in reality. For the past three years, our state has had an actual leader—one who serves the entire state, unlike other North Carolina “public servants” who only care about their rich donors while profiting from this pandemic. Gov. Cooper, along with the extremely competent Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, and Mike Sprayberry, the Director of Emergency Management, are making strides for North Carolina to flatten the curve. We are so lucky to have leadership guided by science and empathy rather than money and partisanism, especially in the South. It is clear that our governor is concerned about all the lives at stake amid this pandemic, which is why I fully support our governor, and the task force he works diligently with to provide North Carolinians with fact-based information. Look, don’t get me wrong—I want all businesses to reopen as soon as possible, just like everyone else. I want to go and get my hair cut and properly dyed again. I want to escape from my phone for two hours to see a movie at a/perture cinema. I miss socializing with my community and expressing myself through drag at Twist Lounge. I miss what the inside of Monstercade looks likes, and the comfort I feel congregating with all of the other weirdos there. I miss finding thrifty treasures in the Goodwill bins. I miss sitting down at Tampopo for a delicious bowl of ramen. And even though I rarely went before this quarantine, I miss the way downtown Winston-Salem and Greensboro buzzed with excitement every First Friday. I highly doubt there are people that actually enjoy how COVID-19 has dramatically reshaped our lives. We are truly all in this together because of our shared WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM
misery and anxiety from this intangible enemy. We are all frustrated and looking for someone or something to blame. Gov. Cooper isn’t perfect, but if you truly believe he is playing a political game with this unprecedented health crisis, you are part of the problem. If you are blatantly ignoring all of the great work North Carolina’s Coronavirus Task Force is doing to inform and educate the public— if you are ignoring all of the work our state’s fearless health care workers are doing to keep this virus from completely devastating our people, you should be ashamed of yourself. This state’s leadership has done nothing but follow logic and reasoning rather than give into feeble and self-centered “protests,” from people who refuse to accept a reality other than their own. Cooper and his COVID-19 response team are not villains for shutting down the state to keep people safe. We have to remember that the real villain at play is COVID-19. If this virus isn’t contained, it will win—and what happened in Italy, or worse, can happen in North Carolina. Last Thursday, Cooper extended the state’s stay-at-home order from April 29 to May 8, and released his three-phase plan to “reopen.” According to a press release on the governor’s website, “The Stay At Home and other orders are extended today because North Carolina has not yet seen a downward trajectory of those metrics needed to begin gradually lifting restrictions.” “Right now, the decision to stay at home is based on the public health data and White House guidance,” the governor said at a press conference last Thursday. “North Carolina needs more time to slow the spread of this virus before we can safely begin lifting restrictions. I know that this pandemic has made life difficult for many people in our state, and I am focused on keeping our communities safe while planning to slowly lift restrictions to help cushion the blow to our economy.” Some critics, who are completely out of touch with reality, claim that the state is totally safe to reopen if proper social distancing guidelines are followed. Yet, those same critics have no medical credentials to back up this misguided and dangerous assumption. As someone who has gone shopping every two weeks since March 15, I have noticed that many big-box grocery stores are still not
following the bare minimum suggested requirements for social distancing. On top of that, at least half of the staff at these essential businesses do not wear masks, gloves, or any kind of protective equipment. But even more startling is that the majority of shoppers are the ones not complying with social distancing guidelines themselves! There are asymptomatic people spreading this virus, and they don’t even know it because testing is almost impossible—unless you are exhibiting severe symptoms or are privileged enough to have health care. With 10% of our state’s workforce unemployed, it goes without saying there’s a huge part of this population that does not have affordable health care, let alone access to COVID-19 tests. Cooper’s three-phase plan was clearly stated in his press conference last week, but what wasn’t as clear was the timeline for each phase. Without any scientific metrics, it will be understandably unclear when exactly the state will go back to normal. Who knows? If the public had been notified two months sooner, maybe we’d be more prepared than we are now. Instead, our commander-in-chief (also someone with no medical background) compared COVID-19 to the common flu and did not take it seriously. (In fact, he continues to not take it seriously, especially with his so-called “sarcasm” regarding his comment on injecting disinfectants to treat COVID-19.) To solely blame Roy Cooper for our state’s declining economy is severely irresponsible, especially since he wasn’t the one to downplay COVID-19’s severity in the first place. In contrast, Cooper
has acted much more swiftly than other Southern governors to address this crisis. So, here is a thought to consider if you plan on following half-witted advice to vote Cooper out because he has taken a careful and scientific approach to do his job: What exactly is his opponent doing to prove he’s capable of handling this pandemic? Unsurprisingly, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest’s plan of action for addressing COVID-19 to the public involves blaming the media. Apparently earlier this month, Forest suggested on a radio show that broadcast news stations and newspapers are blowing the pandemic out of proportion to sell ads. Which, to me, is interesting because this newspaper has not capitalized on any kind of ad like that. In fact, we are struggling to stay afloat because there are hardly any ad sales funding this newspaper! I will be voting for Roy Cooper again this November because he’s proven his competence and dedication to serving this state come literal hell or high water. Also, his 2017 veto of HB 205 that the corrupt, former state senator passed to punish newspapers that disagreed with her will always remind me whose side Cooper is on. Thank you, Gov. Cooper, Dr. Mandy Cohen, Mr. Mike Sprayberry, and other state officials for your leadership and service through this crisis. And thank you, health care workers, for your dedication to keeping us safe and healthy. ! KATIE MURAWSKI is the editor-in-chief of YES! Weekly. Her alter egos include The Grimberlyn Reaper, skater/public relations board chair for Greensboro Roller Derby, and Roy Fahrenheit, drag entertainer and selfproclaimed King of Glamp.
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Putting out in a pandemic: Snüzz is ‘Into Visions ’
B
ritt Harper Uzzell, aka Snüzz, is “into visions” with his latest album release of the same name, out now via Bandcamp. “Into Visions is Katei Cranford about the ability to make yourself a conduit to create someContributor thing that didn’t previously exist,” said the mostly one-man-band rock ‘n’ roller, of the EP which serves his “own personal effort to make sense of the world.” “I like bringing brutal truths to the table and making frank confessions,” Snüzz noted of his inspirative material. One brutal truth being he lives with Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia. ”It’s a blood cancer that affects me much like Leukemia,” he explained. Much of the release was written after his bone marrow stem cell transplant in 2017. While most folks are trying to keep their heads above water these days, Snüzz feels like he lives under it. “Every step and motion takes enormous effort that tires me out,” he said. Though he misses playing regularly, “it’s not as devastating as I had anticipated.” Solo work affords outlets of expression, it even forces him into the spotlight—a practice he’s avoided as a side-man in groups like Ben Folds, Big Kids, Bus Stop, International Orange, the Numbers, and Kickin’ The Bucket. These days, his condition is stabilized through expensive oral chemotherapy. But the medicine cost $15,000 a month and isn’t covered by insurance in North Carolina. “Currently, AstraZeneca has granted me access free of charge, but my existence literally depends upon their continued goodwill,” he explained, nodding to the need for national health care. “It’s a cruel, inhumane system that keeps me groveling ‘Please, sir, I want some more time to live.’” It’s time spent well. Snüzz has been making records, hosting shows in his killer Stokes County bedrock abode, and planning a Bus Stop 30-year reunion show that YES! WEEKLY
APRIL 29-MAY 5, 2020
PHOTO BY KELLIE KANO
sold-out the Crown in a matter of hours, necessitating an encore-night. “We were all shocked,” he said of the demand for a group who disbanded 25-years ago. “It’s a pretty good feeling to be remembered that fondly.” The shows are still slated for December (though COVID-19 may push things back). Like most of us, he’s “hoping for the best” while “staying grounded in the facts.” And the fact is, Snüzz has released Into Visions over Bandcamp just in time for May 1, a day the platform is giving all-sales to artists. “If anyone wants to purchase the EP, or any older albums, that’s the day to do it,” he said, “it’ll really put more money in the artists’ pockets.” Solo may be the road most artists are
forced to travel lately, it’s a trail Snüzz blazed long ago; all album production and performance is handled himself and honed in his home. “I’m a real stickler for parts, so it’s really good for me,” he explained of his one-man operation. “But I do miss the camaraderie and contributions from bandmates.” Referencing two sides to the collaborative coin, Snüzz expressed gratitude for occasional percussive collaborator Eddie Walker, “it’s great to have him generously lay down more adventurous drum tracks than what I’m capable of,” he said. The result is a compilation of material whittled by his “ruthless inner editor” into eight nicely flowing tracks which span a signature twangy power-pop style. “It’s tough to distill an ocean of thoughts into a three-minute composition that uplifts the listener,” Snüzz said of the deceptively difficult task of writing purposeful pop songs. “I credit much of that purpose-driven intent to my mother who was a kind, gregarious and generous woman of deep faith,” Snüzz said. Though he walks a different spiritual line, he still “harbors the lessons and love she taught me.” Those lessons resonate through Into Visions, with the stripped-demo title track being “one for the dreamers and those that feel a duty to have a larger connection to things around you,” Snüzz noted. “I’m always searching for a way my writing can help not only myself, but others; and
pulling things from the ether until I find what I’m searching for, it’s a bit like having your hand on a Ouija board.” That pursuit rings through “All the Difference,” an uplifting earworm which expresses gratitude for unsung heroes. “I saw how many people don’t get the credit in life they deserve. I wanted to recognize their value and show others do as well,” he explained. “Sometimes, I feel a little guilty in that musicians can get more attention than they deserve, and the accolade balance just seems to be off.” Calling the song, “an attempt to right a wrong,” Snüzz paired with Green Sneakers Media for a video release in January, 2019; followed by a video for the sweetly escapist Getaway Car single later that April. Visuals wrapped in October with a lyric-video for the punchy, pointed “Deep State Derangement” ripper arranged by John Glosson. Beyond the release, Snüzz looks to new material, cautious optimism, and hopeful visions for the future. ! KATEI CRANFORD is a Triad music nerd who hosts the Tuesday Tour Report on WUAG 103.1 FM.
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https://snuzz1.bandcamp.com Pick up “Into Visions” via Bandcamp on May 1, when the site waives all fees and gives 100% of sales to the artist.
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last call
[THE ADVICE GODDESS] love • sex • dating • marriage • questions
2B OR NOT TO BE
This guy recently moved into my apartment building, and we seem to have a spark. I’d like to go out with him. However, because we live in the same building, this might Amy Alkon be a bad idea. If it goes badly, things Advice could get really awkward or even Goddess horrible. Should I just try to forget about him? —Tempted
Let’s just say this has some negative potential — along the lines of throwing back a bottle of pinot noir all by yourself and then deciding to cut your bangs at 1 a.m. Though going for it with this guy could go seriously wrong, there’s also the potential for it to go seriously right. Risk can be a path to reward (whereas avoiding it is unlikely to lead to a shiny new boyfriend suddenly sliding down your chimney, Santa-style). To figure out whether you can afford the risk, apply a concept from economic psychology: “Risk tolerance.” This is a term for how much stomach somebody has for the possible loss of an investment they make — all their dollars leaping out of it and swan-diving en masse into a toilet, with the final straggling dollar kicking the flusher on its way down.
Essential to determining your risk tolerance is figuring out the possible costs if a thing between you and this guy goes all crashy-burn. For example, there could be financial costs if you end up needing to move. You should also factor in your tolerance for drama, like embarrassing public encounters with a Mr. Romantic turned Mr. Should Be In A Jacket With A Lotta Buckles. Also consider your fiscal and emotional fortitude for what psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham called “unknown unknowns”: crazy stuff most of us just wouldn’t imagine happening, like much of the adult world getting grounded by the government. If you decide to give it a go with him, consider taking things slowly. This is generally prudent but especially so when you could have a stalker who doesn’t have to follow you home because he lives there, too. If you’re like me, you love to make an interesting entrance, but that probably doesn’t include getting into your apartment via rope ladder.
LOVE IN THE PAYCHECK REPUBLIC
I’m a 20-year-old girl with a big crush on my very cute boy co-worker. Day after day, week after week, I want to invite him out for drinks, but then I chicken out. I ask myself all the usual questions, like, “What if he says no, and work gets embarrassing?” and, “What if he tells the boss, and then I get fired?” —Procrastinating Endlessly You’d be asking him to go for drinks, not asking him to straddle you in the staff restroom.
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Unless there’s a policy forbidding coworkers from dating, asking this guy out should not lead to you and your job being forced to part company. Surely, you know that. Chances are your goal of asking the guy out is getting tangled up in your groping around for an excuse to avoid doing it. This is understandable. The prospect of failing at a goal — especially a romantic goal — is stressful, but there’s a way to make failed efforts take less of a bite out of you. It turns out that in goal pursuit, there’s safety in numbers — in simultaneously pursuing a flock of goals rather than just one goal at a time. A single bird can get shot down, but it’s hard to shoot down a whole flock at once unless your weapon of choice is an alien death ray. Consider replacing being goal-oriented with the broader approach: being goal systems-oriented. A goal is simply a result you’re trying for — a single result, like “get Joe Shelfstocker to go out with me.” The singularity is the problem. If Joe turns you down, you’ve failed at your goal. Hard out. Goal systems are more forgiving. While
a goal is a lone target — win or lose, all or nothing — a goal system, as explained by social psychologist Arie Kruglanski, is a network of “interconnected goals.” A goal system would be, “Work toward having love in my life.” This goal system would be the home of your goal of getting a date with the guy, but it would take up residence with a bunch of brother, sister, and cousin goals, such as: Work on building up confidence. Get a cuter haircut. Go out more. When you fail at a single goal, if it’s simply one of many in your goal system, you’ve got cushioning. Your failure is just a momentary bummer within a world of to-dos, at least some of which you’ll manage to pull off. Being goal-systemdriven gives you the emotional air bag to go forward all “carpe diem!” — “seize the day!” — instead of downshifting to “cogit, ergo spud”: “I think I’ll act like a potato” (um, loosely translated). ! GOT A problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or e-mail AdviceAmy@aol. com (www.advicegoddess.com) © 2020 Amy Alkon Distributed by Creators.Com.
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