YES! Weekly - February 19, 2025 by YES! Weekly

It Takes

A V lage

How D-UP Is Transforming Generations

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

It’s been said before, that “it takes a village to raise a child” and D-UP, a nonproﬁt program whose core mission is to develop essential life skills, instill nutrition knowledge, and empower individuals to excel in life, takes that saying to heart.

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from an increase in gang activity to the way in which violent juveniles are prosecuted.

DALE POLLOCK, a two-time dean and long-time faculty member at the UNCSA School of Filmmaking, invites audiences to enter a dream state as he hosts the upcoming screening series “Films as Dreams and Dreams as Films.”

7 With Emilia Pérez’s Oscar chances seemingly becoming slimmer due to myriad controversies not necessarily associated with its narrative, Sean Baker’s ANORA — once a proverbial dark horse — has suddenly emerged as a potential front-runner.

9 BEATS ABOUND through workshops, shows, and the unlikely scene of a songwriter circle in the coming weeks around the Triad, as beatmakers and beat lovers get together to celebrate their craft at spots like Scuppernong Books, Fair Witness Fancy Drinks; keep it pumping over the airwaves on WUAG’s “In the Beat of the Night.”

Publisher CHARLES A. WOMACK III publisher@yesweekly.com

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The North Carolina Black Repertory Company (N.C. Black Rep) will produce August Wilson’s “FENCES,” Feb. 28March 16, 2025, at Hanesbrands Theatre, 209. N. Spruce St., Winston-Salem, NC. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony award-winning

SHERIFF KIMBROUGH and I have had many conversations over the past six years, during which time a host of other public safety issues has arisen, ranging

12 Tests released February 7 by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) show that Asheboro has dumped extremely high levels of a “LIKELY CARCINOGEN” into the drinking water supplies of Pittsboro, Sanford, Fayetteville, Wilmington, Brunswick, Pindar Counties.

Chow Down with John Batchelor at Van Loi II

BY JOHN BATCHELOR

Trang Tran came to the United States in the year 2000, sponsored by her husband. They lived in Charlotte, where they opened Van Loi restaurant. The name in Vietnamese means success and happiness. They moved to Greensboro later that year and opened Van Loi II, which has now been in operation in the same location for almost 25 years. That is major longevity in the restaurant business! She took over when her husband died and sold the Charlotte restaurant to family members. Starting in 2012, she remodeled the interior and remade the menu, setting out to improve quality and build a repeat clientele. Those efforts have paid o . She told me that on a typical Sunday, the restaurant might well serve three or four whole pigs and a hundred ducks. They cater weddings and provide dinners for VIP events at the casino in Danville. They also do quite a lot of takeout from the convenient online ordering system. Much of the business now consists of repeat customers, and I noticed a lot of Vietnamese when I visited, which I take as a good sign. They know more about Vietnamese food than I do. I just know what tastes good. And the food here not only tastes good, it is a unique experience. There are things here you just can’t get anywhere else. (More on that later.) I stuck to fairly conventional choices from the huge range of selections. I am providing menu numbers, where applicable, because neither my word processing system nor my language skills support conﬁdence in the Vietnamese names for each dish.

Shrimp Pork Salad Rolls (#1) are served chilled; semi-transparent rice paper encloses fresh, tender shrimp plus strips of pork, along with rice noodles and fresh cilantro. A robust peanut sauce is provided alongside, for dipping. Vietnamese Egg Rolls (#4) are fried crisp, served with a sweet-spicy sauce on the side. Both are very tasty.

Two whole birds make up a serving of Crispy Quail (#6). They are aptly named, the skin delightfully crisp in texture, the meat supple and ﬂavorful. A little side dish contains chili paste and lemonpepper salt. Both add another dimension to the rather simple, natural ﬂavor of the bird, but I would suggest light applications until you become familiar with the taste. They are fairly pronounced.

Salads proved especially enjoyable.

Steamed All White Meat Chicken (#14) is sliced thin. A layer of chicken covers ﬁnely shredded red cabbage, cilantro, mint, bean sprouts, and chopped peanuts, dressed in a light, spicy-sweet vinegarbased dressing. Papaya Salad (#12B), is, of course, based on thin strips of sliced papaya, hosting tender, deveined shrimp, scattered with peanuts and fresh cilantro, plus ground pork. A sweetish-spicy sauce brightens things up.

Pho (soup) is especially important in Vietnamese cuisine. Beef Noodle Soup (#28) reveals quality beef ﬂavor, hosting sliced brisket, thin ﬂank steak, sliced meat balls, and lots of thin sliced white onion and clipped green onion. A tray of beautiful, aromatic fresh basil, plus sprouts, is provided alongside. Add these to the soup at the table. It’s a hearty, robust concoction, particularly welcome on a chilly night. Other soup alternatives occupy two pages of menu space.

The menu cautions that Chicken Lemongrass (#76) is spicy, and it’s an apt warning. I had no problem with the intensity, but I tend to like hot-spicy Asian foods. Slices of fresh, boneless chicken are interspersed with sliced hot peppers, which allows you to adjust the heat. Some is cooked in, but eat the peppers

surprisingly mild, allowing the natural ﬂavor of the bird to stand up front. Two sauces are provided for dipping, one ﬁery red and spicy-hot, the other sweetish vinegary, both tasty, although I would recommend moderate applications. You don’t want to obscure the taste of the duck itself.

along with bites of chicken if you want hotter flavor. And to me, that onioninfluenced flavor is quite good, indeed.

In Toasted Shrimp (#87), deveined jumbos are battered and fried to a light crust, served over salt pepper butter sauce. The natural shrimp ﬂavor comes through clearly. This instantly became one of my top-ranked shrimp dishes in the Triad.

Whole Flounder (#84) is a knockout. This is fried to a heavy, crisp crust, enhanced with ginger sauce and sauteed onions. Quite a bit of dexterity is required in order to separate ﬂesh from bones, but the e ort is rewarded with unique ﬂavor and texture.

The Roast BBQ Duck (not numbered, BBQ section of the menu) is at least one of the dishes that draws customers back to this restaurant. You will note several whole ducks (as well as a whole pig) hanging in the front of the restaurant as you enter. I watched a guy whack a half duck into sections and separate legs and wings, using a big cleaver. Scary, for both speed and accuracy. The treatment makes this easier to eat. I would suggest forgoing utensils and picking it up by hand, just gnawing your way through each piece. The barbecue sauce that coats the duck is colorful, deep red, yet

I mentioned at the outset that there are things available here that you just don’t see anywhere else. Consider that an understatement. This kitchen cooks the whole pig and serves everything it cooks. Thus an abundance of organ meats, blood, ears, and other delicacies appear on the menu. If you seek adventure, or if you seek real Vietnamese food, this is your place. I was never invited to an all-expense paid tour of Vietnam, as were many of my Page High School classmates (’64), so I have no personal experience there, but to the extent that I can judge, more than any other Vietnamese restaurant I have ever been to, this one is the real deal.

Much of the sta has been in place for 7-10 years. Bonny Ho and Tina Ho join Ellie Pham (who started when she was 19 years old and has never left), greeting customers new and old. And owner Trang Tran has been present, overseeing things, every time I have visited. It’s a winning team. !

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.

WANNA go?

Van Loi II

3829 W. Gate City Blvd. D Greensboro 27407

336-855-5688

vanloirestaurant.com

Hours: 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m., 5:30-9 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday & Sunday. Closed Tuesday. Appetizers: $6.95-$13.95

Salads: $16.99-$25.99

Soups: $4.50-$17.99

Entrees: $13.50-$47.99

Desserts: $6.50

Most recent visit: February 8

Crispy Quail Vietnamese Egg Rolls

Papaya salad with Shrimp & Pork Beef Noodle Soup

Dream weaver Dale Pollock hosts special ﬁlm series

BY MARK BURGER

Dale Pollock, a two-time dean and long-time faculty member at the UNCSA School of Filmmaking, invites audiences to enter a dream state as he hosts the upcoming screening series “Films as Dreams and Dreams as Films.”

The four-week series will open March 17 and run through April 7, with screenings taking place Mondays from 7 to 9 p.m. at the UNCSA Campus Gold Theatre, 1533 S. Main St., Winston-Salem, each followed by an in-depth discussion with Pollock. The admission fee is $70. For more information, call 336-817-5027 or visit https://www.uncsa.edu/community/adult-education/ﬁlm-appreciation. aspx

One of Pollock’s principal inspirations for the series was Hortense Powdermaker’s 1950 non-fiction book “Hollywood: The Dream Factory,” the first (and to date only) study of filmmaking in anthropological terms.

“In a sense, you’re entering a state when you go to the cinema,” Pollock said. “Unlike other mediums, ﬁlms are like dreams and dreams are like movies. You enter a di erent reality when you see a movie. Dream is memory, memory is dream, and dream is ﬁlm.”

There are, of course, any number of films that Pollock could have selected for the series, whether The Wizard of Oz (1939), the 2021 Nicolas Cage vehicle Dream Scenario (which Pollock admittedly enjoyed, albeit with reservations), or even the Nightmare on Elm Street series, but he wanted to showcase films that might not be familiar to the audience. Not necessarily obscurities, but films that fit more in line with his intentions for the program.

The series kicks o March 17 with writer/director Richard Linklater’s awardwinning, R-rated 2001 animated feature Waking Life, featuring Wiley Wiggins, Adam Goldberg, and Nicky Katt (all alumni of Linklater’s 1993 breakthrough Dazed and Confused), and Ethan Hawke

and Julie Delpy (reprising their roles from Linklater’s 1995 romantic drama Before Sunrise).

The March 24 selection, writer/director Ildiko Enyedi’s 2017 fantasy On Body and Soul (Testrol es lélekrol), which earned an Oscar nomination for Best International Film and stars Alexandra Borbely and Geza Morcsanyi (in his feature debut) as slaughterhouse workers who discover they have the ability to communicate through dreams, which leads to a romantic relationship despite unforeseen obstacles. (In Hungarian with English subtitles)

Sissy Spacek, Shelley Duvall, and Janice Rule occupy the titular trifecta for the March 31 selection, Robert Altman’s PG-rated 1977 drama 3 Women, for which Duvall won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival. It’s only ﬁtting that this ethereal exploration of identity be presented here, as Altman himself stated many times that he conceived the story in a dream.

The series concludes April 7 with the award-winning 1945 horror anthology Dead of Night, an acknowledged genre landmark in which each segment was helmed by a di erent director: Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, and Robert Hamer. Visitors at a remote English manor regale themselves by sharing nightmares they have had or heard about, only to discover that they themselves may be living that nightmare. The star-studded cast includes Mervyn Johns, Roland Culver, Sally Ann Howes, Googie Withers, Frederick Valk, Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, and in perhaps his most memorable screen role, Michael Redgrave as Maxwell Frere, the schizophrenic ventriloquist whose

dummy Hugo exerts a strange power over his personality.

In a further, but long-awaited, development, the audio books for Pollock’s 1983 biography “Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas” and his factbased 2023 mystery novel “Chopped” are now available on Amazon. The former, a self-explanatory examination of the life and work of Hollywood powerhouse George Lucas, is read by Jordan Rich (a longtime friend), while “Chopped: A Novel” is read by Ron Della Chiesa, a legend in Boston radio and a member of the Massachusetts Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Given that the (often-shocking) historical events of “Chopped” occurred in mid-19th-century Boston, Della Chiesa’s selection seems only ﬁtting.

Pollock is “very pleased” by both audio books, and although he considered narrating “Skywalking” at one point, “Jordan Rich has a more professional voice than I do,” he quipped.

Both works have received rave reviews since their respective publications, which again pleases Pollock to no end, and he reveals that, yes, he’s working on another book.

Although he o cially retired in 2021, and enjoys spending time with wife Susie and their three children and three grandchildren, he also enjoys keeping a hand in the local entertainment scene, having reviewed movies for WXII 12 News for over a decade and participating in various lectures and ﬁlm-related events hereabouts.

Lest one forget, Pollock is also the man who engineered the RiverRun International Film Festival’s “eastward expansion” from Asheville and Brevard to Winston-Salem in 2003, where it continues to thrive. Although Pollock isn’t as directly involved in RiverRun’s day-today activities, he’s an emeritus board member and a fervent champion of the festival. In more ways than one, Dale Pollock has left his mark — as an author, teacher, ﬁlm producer (with 13 credits), and tireless proponent of the arts. !

Dave Pollock

Cast & Design Team Announced for N.C. Black Rep’s Production of August Wilson’s “Fences”

The North Carolina Black Repertory Company (N.C. Black Rep) will produce August Wilson’s “Fences,” Feb. 28 - March 16, 2025, at Hanesbrands Theatre, 209. N. Spruce St., Winston-Salem, NC. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony award-winning play, this production opens N.C. Black Rep’s 2025 season, “A King’s Plight,” which features stories that shine a light on Black Patriarchs, examining the familial and societal challenges they face, along with the joy, laughter, and love that sustains them.

The cast for August Wilson’s “Fences” will be headlined by Jackie Alexander, N.C. Black Rep’s Producing Artistic Director, and Executive Producer of the company’s International Black Theatre Festival, in the role of Troy Maxson. This marks the first time in five years Alexander has taken to the N.C. Black Rep stage, the last being their 2019 sold-out run of John Shevin Foster’s “Plenty of Time.” Alexander reflected on the challenge of taking on the iconic role:

“The ﬁrst time I read August Wilson’s words, it felt like he had eavesdropped on neighborhood conversations I grew up listening to. I personally know multiple incarnations of every character in ‘Fences,’ none more than Troy Maxson. I am both honored and excited to take this journey.”

Joining Alexander in the cast will be Mya Brown (Rose Maxson), Vonii Bristow (Corey Maxson), Andre Minkins

[ WEEKLY ARTS ROUNDUP]

SALEM BAND WINTER CONCERT FEB. 23

(Jim Bono), Hayden Crawford (Gabriel Maxson), Joseph Johnson (Lyons Maxson), and McKinley Pate/Imani Quoi (Raynell Maxson).

August Wilson’s Fences will be directed by Rory D. Sheri , Founder and Artistic Director of BNS Productions, Charlotte’s only Black repertory theatre company. BNS will be producing August Wilson’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” Feb. 14-16, 2025, at the Parr Center in Charlotte. Commenting on two of North Carolina’s most prominent Black theatre companies joining forces to honor the work of August Wilson, Sheri shared the following:

“Directing the 40th anniversary production of ‘Fences’ is an honor that touches my soul. August Wilson’s words resonate deeply, reﬂecting our people’s strength, struggles, and resilience. To bring this masterpiece to life at N.C. Black Rep is not just an artistic journey — it’s a tribute to our shared history and the unyielding power of storytelling.”

The design team for August Wilson’s “Fences” features: set and light design by Jennifer O’Kelly, costume design by Gregory Horton, and sound design by Lee Martinez Cruz. The production stage manager is Brittany Giles-Jones and the technical director is Arthur Reese. !

For tickets and information, please visit: https:// ncblackrep.org/events/fences/.

Salem Band will perform its annual Winter Concert on Feb. 23 rd in Hanes Auditorium. This exciting program is the most challenging of the season for us and typically includes original works for band. “City Chase” by Lauren Taylor is an exciting and rhythmic selection depicting a busy traffic city scene at rush hour. For those of you who like jazz, we have two fun pieces: “Takarajima,” based on a popular Japanese anime television series; and “Satchmo!,” a tribute to the legendary Louis Armstrong and featuring his hit songs, “What a Wonderful World,” “When the Saints Go Marching In,” and “Hello Dolly!” The popular contemporary composer Anthony O’Toole is represented with his work called “Anthracite” about the Pennsylvania coal region — I programmed this piece to honor our Pennsylvania connections. We are pleased to premier an original composition by Salem Band member and trumpet player Russ Gieselman, “The Good Craic” — if you like Irish folk songs, you will love Russ’s musical tribute.

For many years, Salem Band has been wanting to perform Frank Ticheli’s thrilling composition, “Vesuvius,” and we are very excited to finally be able to bring this complex and driving piece to our audience. Ticheli describes it as a depiction of Mt. Vesuvius with explosive and fiery musical passages. It is challenging, but Salem Band is working hard and will be

ready for an exhilarating performance! Our featured soloist for this program is local baritone vocalist Jacob Cook, who will sing arias by Handel and Verdi with the band. Jacob, who is the chorus director at Mt. Tabor High School, has a smooth and lovely baritone voice — don’t miss his interpretation of these opera arias.

The band will play “Benediction” by John Stevens and the “Royal Australian Navy March” in memory of long-time Salem Band member and Tuba Section Leader Bart Collins — each year, band members submit their repertoire choices for inclusion on the winter program, and these two were chosen by Bart before his untimely passing. Many of us were close to Bart and we are honored to remember him through the music he loved to play.

The program concludes with “As the Last Light Fades,” a beautiful programmatic work depicting the peacefulness of nature as the sun sets and the stars emerge; and finally, the very fun and rhythmic “El Camino Real” (The Royal Road). Popular band composer Alfred Reed based this music on Spanish flamenco dances.

The Salem Band Winter Concert is free (donations gratefully accepted) and takes place in Hanes Auditorium, Elberson Fine Arts Center, on the campus of Salem Academy and College. Established in 1771, Salem Band is the oldest, continuous mixed wind ensemble in the nation. For more information, visit www.salemband.org or www.facebook.com/SalemBandFan/ !

PHOTO BY J FARLEY PHOTOGRAPHY

SUBMITTED BY EILEEN YOUNG Music Director of Salem Band

Catching Up With Sheri Bobby Kimbrough

After a long career in law enforcement, including time spent as a police o cer in Winston-Salem, and as a special agent for the D.E.A., Bobby Kimbrough could have retired and turned his back on public service. But Bobby isn’t one to rest on his laurels or to sit idly by when presented with a challenge. In 2018, he was persuaded to run for o ce against a long-time, popular incumbent, and, against all odds, he unseated Bill Schatzman to become the ﬁrst African American sheri in the history of Forsyth County. And while most political newcomers are a orded a honeymoon period, Bobby had to confront two pandemics head-on after barely a year on the job. One pandemic was COVID, and the other was racism.

In 2020, COVID-19 swept through the nation, eventually killing over a million of our neighbors and loved ones. That same year, George Floyd, a Black man, died as a result of excessive force by a white Minneapolis police o cer. That incident stirred nationwide protests against systemic racism in law enforcement, and an understandable decline in

the number of people (especially people of color) applying to work for police and sheri ’s departments. There was also an ill-timed call by some politicians and disenfranchised populations for defunding the police at a time when, ironically, violent crime was on the rise, including in our public schools.

Sheri Kimbrough and I have had many conversations over the past six years, during which time a host of other public safety issues has arisen, ranging from an increase in gang activity to the way in which violent juveniles are prosecuted.

I thought now would be a good time for review and reﬂection as he settles in for the last half of his second term in o ce.

JL: Before becoming sheri , you had extensive law enforcement experience on both the local and federal levels, and yet, I’m wondering if anything about your current job surprised you that ﬁrst year?

BK: Of course. Budgeting and navigating the political landscape were entirely new to me. I learned that there are hundreds of demands placed on the sheri , many of which have little to do with law enforcement. Also, I had to learn quickly how to adapt while maintaining the level of service necessary to create a top-tier law enforcement agency.

More importantly, this position has given new meaning to prayer in my life. It has become a daily necessity.

JL: School shootings are on the rise nationwide. What kinds of security mea-

sures should we take to prevent those tragedies from happening?

BK: As it relates to school security and school as a whole, we must ﬁrst recognize and prioritize what is truly valuable. I will never forget meeting Rabbi Charlie who told me, “A budget is a reﬂection of what you value.” When it comes to school security and our protective measures, we have not placed enough value and resources on what matters most -our children and their educators. I can’t help but ask, “Why are our courthouses and college basketball games more secure than our schools?” The reason these places remain secure is the resources allocated to ensure safety of those entering and participating in the events there. The key word is “Resources.”

JL: We are starting to see more minors being tried as adults in cases of violent crime. Is that a good idea? And, if so, is it deterring 16 and 17-year-olds from violent behavior, such as assaulting teachers?

BK: While we are charging juveniles with adult crimes, we must remember that we are dealing with undeveloped minds. Time will ultimately reveal whether these decisions were wise or ﬂawed. Once again, resources are critical. If applied e ectively on the front end, they can positively impact outcomes on the back end. We must never forget that decisions create conditions.

JL: How prevalent is gang activity in our area, and what resources do you need to combat it?

BK: It’s no secret that gang activity is present in our area. Again, though, resources are the key to solving any problem, but that doesn’t only mean

handcu s or incarceration. Resources include jobs, tutoring, and housing.

JL: Back in 2016, you authored a book titled, “Surviving the Stop,” which is sort of a primer on how people (especially people of color) can avoid confrontation with police during a tra c stop. Are police and sheri ’s departments making any progress in lessening incidents of excessive force?

BK: Training is essential to advancing any agency. It involves understanding the community that it serves, addressing conﬂict resolution, and improving practices. Training has always been a priority for us.

JL: Not so long ago, your o ce had a lot of openings. How have you been doing with recruiting?

BK: You recall several years ago we had 135 vacancies just on the detention side. Today we’re down to only 30. We’re also fully sta ed in terms of sworn o cers. I have to give a shout-out to our county commissioners and county manager for raising salaries. The new color of hope is green, and people do these jobs for money.

JL: What are your biggest challenges as sheri for 2025 and beyond?

BK: I don’t see challenges, I see opportunities. This includes requesting additional manpower, advocating for increased technology funding, and advancing the premier law enforcement agency in the state.

JL: Following the tragic death of your wife in 2005, you had to raise seven sons by yourself. Have any of them pursued a career in law enforcement?

BK: Yes, Jordan is employed with the Guilford County Sheri ’s O ce. Christian is currently with the Atlanta Police Department, and Bryce is in the process to become a deputy at a sheri ’s o ce in California.

JL: What has been gratifying to you about being sheri ?

BK: One of the most gratifying aspects of my role is being able to serve the town where I grew up. It’s an incredible feeling to know that the people have entrusted me with this o ce and believe in me. The love and support they show me are what drive me, even on the toughest days. I am deeply grateful and thankful. !

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) and streaming on WFMY+.

Jim Longworth

Longworth at Large

Sheri Bobby Kimbrough

Anora: From Russia with love

BY MARK BURGER

With Emilia Pérez’s Oscar chances seemingly becoming slimmer due to myriad controversies not necessarily associated with its narrative, Sean Baker’s Anora — once a proverbial dark horse — has suddenly emerged as a potential front-runner. Of its six nominations, four — Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing — are attributed to him. Leading lady Mikey Madison earned a nod for Best Actress and Yura Borisov the last nomination, for Best Supporting Actor. This quirky, character-driven comedy/ drama is something akin to a latter-day Cinderella story, which is even remarked upon by Madison’s title character, a lissome sex worker nicknamed “Ani” by one and all. Ani is ﬂuent in Russian, which brings her into the orbit of Ivan “Vanya” Zakharov (Mark Eydelshteyn), a partyhearty “student” from Russia whose main interests are sex, drugs, and video games — although in which order is entirely dependent on his often-addled state of mind. He is Ani’s Prince Charming, replete with a luxurious, guarded compound — even if charm is not necessarily one of his major attributes.

Vanya ﬂees home, leaving a frightened and confused Ani in their admittedly confused clutches.

Thus begins a frantic, frenzied, often hysterical odyssey through Brooklyn to locate Vanya and ensure that he and Ani are present at an annulment hearing the next morning. What’s more, Vanya’s parents are ﬂying in to make sure the annulment takes place, at which point Vanya will be whisked back to Russia and Ani summarily deposited on the sidelines. What a di erence a day makes.

In addition to making great use of his locations, including Coney Island, Baker creates memorable characters caught up in an absurd yet believable predicament. Ani is not an airhead or a bimbo, but a working girl struggling to make ends meet. She simply can’t resist the lure of Vanya’s o er and is devastated when it comes crashing down around her through no fault of her own. Madison lays bare her soul as much as her body in this star-making turn.

Ani and Vanya’s “courtship” — for pay of course — culminates in an impetuous trip to Las Vegas and an even more impetuous decision to get married there, ostensibly so that Vanya can obtain a green card and not have to return to Russia to work for his father, a powerful tycoon of global notoriety. Yet Ani, who is understandably dazzled by Vanya’s wealth and attention, is more than willing to go along for the ride.

The same cannot be said of Vanya’s parents, who upon hearing of the wedding are suitably enraged, and immediately dispatch Vanya’s godfather Toros (Karren Karagulian) to investigate. Toros is the minister of the local Armenian parish, but out of his vestments he talks as tough as any gangster. Aiding and abetting Toros in his task are the burly, bumbling Granik (Vache Tovmasyan) and the poker-faced Igor (Borisov), but things go awry when

The actors in Anora have previous film experience but this marks the breakthrough for most of them. Borisov earned his Oscar nomination for his quietly e ective performance as Igor, but there’s also the showy turn by Eydelshteyn, whose Vanya is not entirely unsympathetic despite being a shallow, childish hedonist who simply ignores the consequences of his rash actions, both for himself and those around him. Karagulian and Tovmasyan earn big laughs in their roles, and the late-inning entrance of Aleksei Serebryakov and especially Darya Ekamasova as Vanya’s parents kick-start the film’s momentum just when it appears to be flagging.

Anora does have a few drawbacks, in particular its 140-minute running time, which could easily have been reined in without diluting any of its overall e ects. Yet the ﬁlm is never boring or static. It’s a modern-day fairy tale with a few kinks (literally) and a surprising amount of heart. It may not be the best picture of 2024 but it’s certainly part of the conversation, and its many accolades are well-deserved. !

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Starch-yielding plant 21 They may disturb sleep 22 — -Seltzer 23 Nut acquired with great e ort?

25 Nail salon job, in brief

— box (TV)

Cathedral in London

R&B’s Brown

Prohibits

Erfurt article

Sprinkle sofa shams with water drops? 35 Calf-roping event

Link with

Overly crooked?

Stock debut, for short

“Nope”

Long-billed wading bird that loves perching on ﬂexed arm muscles?

Testing stage

Beats abound through workshops, shows, and the unlikely scene of a songwriter circle in the coming weeks around the Triad, as beatmakers and beat lovers get together to celebrate their craft at spots like Scuppernong Books, Fair Witness Fancy Drinks; keep it pumping over the airwaves on WUAG’s “In the Beat of the Night,” and host events like The Beat Lab at the Greensboro Cultural Center.

In Greensboro, Tumaini “TJ the DJ EHPHEX” Johnson brings beats for everyone, as the upcoming G.R.O.W. (Greensboro Residency for Original Works) artist-in-residence; transforming the second-ﬂoor ﬂex space of the Greensboro Cultural Center into “The Beat Lab.”

Running Feb. 18 through March 17, Johnson invites the community to “explore the world of electronic music creation through hands-on workshops and collaborative music production” through collaborative, hands-on production techniques.

Divided into two groups, “Beats for Everyone” (a free hands-on electronic music-making workshop for adults 18 and up. Participants will discover their musical talents by making their first beat from start to finish) and “Beat Camp” (a free 2-hour hands-on beat-making workshop for teens 12-18 years old to their musical talents by making their first beat from start to finish), aim to build the beat with age-specific programming. With capacity capped at five people per session, preregistration (at beatsforeveryone.com) is suggested.

Johnson is also excited to host two special events under the umbrella of the residency: “Reconsidered Grooves: A Sonic Journey Through Sampled Music” on March 7; and a “Residency Wrap-Up” ﬁnale showcase on March 14.

For “Reconsidered Grooves,” Johnson harkens back to a namesake and memories of his recent Residency at Reconsidered Goods; while o ering a “unique three-hour DJ showcase where music history comes to life!” through an explorative breakdown of modern sampled tracks and the original records from

In the Beat of the Triad

which they were derived. “From timeless soul, R&B, funk to hip-hop and electronic beats, this set will take you on a journey through the layers of sound that shaped generations.”

Attendees are invited to “come vibe, discover, and appreciate the hidden connections in the music you love!” And that invitation extends to the Beat Lab Residency Finale Showcase: “a special listening event reﬂecting a month of creativity, collaboration, and connecting with community,” featuring the works created during the residency. The event will also celebrate the release of the “Beat Lab Mixtape,” which will feature a compilation mix of those works.

For Johnson, it’s the culmination of a decades-long journey of electronic music — a lasting dedication to inspirational, educational opportunities — and a commitment to sharing the exploration of new possibilities in sound.

Meanwhile, beat queen Katie (“Katie. Blvd”) Hutchinson continues making the rounds — gearing up for the 2025 season of her Beats.Batch series and displaying her range through a series of appearances in the meantime. First up, she’ll be in Winston-Salem as part of an inaugural lineup for what may develop into a monthly hip-hop showcase at Fair Witness Fancy Drinks on Feb. 21. Organized by Aaron “Emceein Eye” Brookshire (wrangler of the Winston-Salem Rap Round Robin), “this show will be all performances but I hope to put together something that’s like an open mic of sorts for MCs, beat makers, producers, and more to come through and get a little performance in and use it as an

opportunity to talk about what they are working on currently, their processes,” he explained.

Drawing on the depths and deep talent pool of WSRRR veterans, Brookshire and Hutchinson will be joined by the fabulous OG Spli , Larry Murvin, and G-$ANTANA.

But hip-hop don’t stop and neither does Hutchinson, who’ll switch gears and head to the 33rd installment of “Songwriters@Scup” (along with Mark Catalano and Kevin Campbell) on March 9.

A monthly songwriters in the round presented by Mark Dillon and Doug Baker, each installment features a handful of musicians showcasing their craft and conversation amongst the stacks at Scuppernong Books. “As a rapper, singer, and songwriter Katie creates a method of telling her own personal story as well as attempting to connect with an untouched audience of those stuck in the past, and standing in the out-casted crowd,” organizers explained, connecting the dots between the three featured performers: music coach and award-winning composer Mark Catalano; and the groove Kevin Campbell extends into his intro-

spective catalog about love and life.

From the bookstore walls to the dive bar stalls, I can’t chat up beats in the Triad without a shoutout for Prez Parks–whether over the air with his “In the Beat of the Night” radio show on WUAG 103.1fm; or the 1’s and 2’s in-person (he’ll host the next edition of “Saturday Night Dives” with Patrick “Killmatic” Kilmartin at Westerwood Tavern on March 1). He keeps holding it down.

Hail to the beat y’all. Tune into “In the Beat of the Night,” Wednesday nights starting at 9 p.m. on WUAG 103.1fm; experience “The Beat Lab” at the GROW showroom in the Greensboro Cultural Center, Feb. 18-March 17; and get down with Katie.Blvd at Fair Witness on Feb. 21 and Songwriters@Scup on March 9. !

KATEI CRANFORD is a Triad music nerd who enjoys spotlighting artists and events.

to pre-register for Tumaini “TJ the DJ EHPHEX Johnson’s “Beats for Everyone” music-making workshop.

Katei Cranford

Contributor

It Takes a Village: How D-UP Is Transforming Generations

Maggie Marshall

Contributor

What began as a Basketball Fundamentals and Skills Program in High Point in 2007 to help kids with character development and provide them with healthy life skills, quickly developed into something greater than life. Founders Corvin and Jakki Davis had always dreamed of creating a movement to better the lives of children while also providing a sense of community for them. The name D-UP alludes to basketball defense techniques but also encompasses their mission — Develop skills, Uprise education, and Power-up for life.

“This was my husband’s dream. His dream was to have a community space where youth can come and have a safe haven just like he did when he was growing up,” said Jakki Davis. She went on to explain that he lost his sister and his niece in a tragic accident when he was around 9 years old. The accident caused him to be split from his siblings. The feeling he had when the community embraced him was a feeling he’d never forgotten. From then on he knew exactly what he wanted to do — create that same feeling for children today.

The center not only serves children but also families and the community. D-UP aims to promote education, health, and life readiness so families have individualized experiences and an opportunity to increase their economic self-su ciency, according to Davis. She added that D-UP provides comprehensive wrap-around services, an intensive mental health program that is a child-focused, family-centered, strengths-based, and

cure community and we want to make sure our families are secure in that area so we teach and educate how to grow food. The youth can grow and take food home, or we pick the food when we provide dinners for the youth,” explained Davis.

While D-UP is primarily focused on the youth, it also serves adults. A popular program they’ve been running bi-monthly is Women’s Wellness which provides an opportunity for parents or people in the community to take some time for themselves and learn about self-care. Activities include mindfulness, reﬂection, and creative art.

needs-driven planning process.

Altogether, D-UP serves 14 di erent schools in High Point from pre-K to High School. In 2011, they expanded their o erings to include physical activity, nutritional education, academic achievement, and character development. Throughout a week students have the chance to participate in an array of programs ranging from dance classes, basketball, ﬁeld hockey, music classes, acting classes, yoga classes, STEM programs, and gardening, to mindfulness and mental wellness check-ins.

“The ﬁrst thing we do is an emotional check-in with the children each day because we want to gauge how their day went. That way we can understand why they may be having particular behavior than what they normally would have,” said Davis.

Every day the children are provided with a snack during the day and a hot meal before leaving. Sometimes the food used is picked from the garden the youth grew when learning about gardening. “We are in a food inse-

The Davises have a lot of support and encouragement for D-UP which is why they can take so much under their belts. Another program D-UP allotted is their Teen Advocacy Group. The initiative grants middle schoolers a platform to discuss and voice their concerns about the community or the country. “It’s a space for them to come and be free, not be judged, and talk about things such as mental health, food insecurity, violence, or housing — those things we typically don’t think youth think about, but they are a ected by,” voiced Davis.

One of the traditions at D-UP is their Royal Celebration. The 9th annual celebration was held this past December. It all started when Davis was inspired by the comments of two children on a ﬁeld trip to Oktoberfest. Davis was sitting behind a little girl and her brother on the way. D-UP had purchased each child a costume to wear to Oktoberfest. The siblings in front of Davis were dressed as a prince and a princess. “She was so pretty, so I said to her ‘You’re such a princess’ and her brother looked over and said ‘She ain’t no princess,’ I said ‘Of course she is and you’re a prince,’ then he said ‘I ain’t no prince,’” remembered Davis. That moment resonated with her. She realized that you can say powerful things to kids and it is important to build them up, but sometimes you have to show them because they may not believe it and it could be based on their environment. Davis thought, how do you show someone that they

Corvin and Jakki Davis at 9th Annual Royal Celebration with Board Chair Rebecca Coplin

are special, that they are important, that they are royalty? Then, in less than a couple of weeks, the team created the Royal Celebration. There was hardly any funding for it since there was no time to budget for the event. Being a nonproﬁt they had developed a lot of partnerships within the community so she reached out to them and was backed with oceans of support. The support allowed D-UP to rent tuxedos, buy dresses, hold etiquette courses and ballroom dancing classes, and rent a limousine. The venue was transformed into something magical. The children had a three-course meal and were able to sit with adults — including community leaders such as the mayor and city councilmen — and have conversations. “If you could see the students on that one night. Everything about them changes and they believe that they are princes and princesses,” said Davis. She said the celebration has created a legacy for D-UP and that the kids look forward to it every year and are even excited when the etiquette classes start back up. Currently, they have a waitlist to accept more families and students. They host 65 children and operate out of four di erent buildings which has allowed them to increase their max capacity. The hope is to ﬁnish building phase 1 of their Washington Street Enhancement Project and increase their capacity to 175 students. When completed, the project will include a S.T.E.M. Gym and Arts Complex with a dance studio, black box theater for acting, computer labs, maker spaces with robots, di erent means of art, a recreation room, and a gymnasium that has a walking track.

The Washington Street Enhancement Project is a 13.2 million dollar project.

With the help of Guilford County Commissioners who allotted $3 million and the City of High Point donated $250,000 and property for the construction of the theater, the Davises are exiting the quiet phase of the Capital Campaign and are excited about letting everybody know what they’re doing. You can help support D-UP in fundraising by purchasing a reclaimed brick to be engraved with your name or organization and layered into the walls of the complex through their website itstimetodup.com/brick.

Another aspect of D-UP that Davis takes pride in is its location. “This was the Black Wall Street of High Point years ago and we are excited to be the catalyst of the revitalization of Washington Street with what we’ve been doing,” she said. Washington Street was created and given its name in 1860. By 1960, the Washington Street district, spanning nine blocks, consisted of over 50 businesses such as sandwich shops, barber shops, laundromats, and numerous churches, civic organizations, and schools. In 2010, Washington Street was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and in February 2024, Washington Street became High Point’s fourth historic district.

“We are changing lives with what we’re doing. We are transforming generations and communities,” said Davis. For more information on D-UP, programs and to volunteer, visit itstimetodup.com. !

MAGGIE MARSHALL is a Greensboro based freelance writer and zine maker. She graduated from UNCG with a bachelor’s degree in Media Studies. Her writing interests include music, ﬁlm, sustainability and counterculture.

Specials MON: $3 Domestic Bottles & All Burgers $10.99 TUE: 1/2 Price Wine | WED: $4 Draft THU: $8 Bud Light Pitchers & $3 Fireball

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 3-6PM MON: $9.99 Wings | TUE: $9.99 Nachos WED: $5.99 Snackables

Students and parent at 9th Annual Royal Celebration.

Lawsuit leads to increased levels of “likely carcinogen” in drinking water

Tests released February 7 by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) show that Asheboro has dumped extremely high levels of a “likely carcinogen” into the drinking water supplies of Pittsboro, Sanford, Fayetteville, Wilmington, Brunswick, Pindar Counties.

Asheboro was allowed to do this via a lawsuit that the city, with supporting petitions from Greensboro and Reidsville, successfully ﬁled against DEQ restrictions on 1,4-dioxane, a chemical the Environmental Protection Agency has linked to kidney and liver damage, and which is not removed by conventional water treatment.

DEQ test results from January 2025 show that Asheboro’s 1,4-dioxane discharges reached 3,520 ppb (parts per billion), which the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) calls “more than 10,000 times the cancer risk level for the chemical.” It is the highest concentration of 1,4-dioxane found in the discharge from any NC water treatment plant in the last six years. In 2016, the DEQ imposed 1,4-dioxane restrictions for Asheboro, Greensboro, and Reidsville’s wastewater facilities, after determining those cities to be top sources of the compound, which their treatment plants receive from textile, chemical, and plastics manufacturers, which ﬂows downstream into the Cape Fear region. The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, Brunswick

arguing that 1,4-dioxane discharges from the Greensboro, Asheboro, and Reidsville facilities contaminated their water and forced them to incur sampling and cleanup costs.

On Jan. 3, Kathlene Butler, director of the Water Division of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), sent a letter to DEQ Water Resources Director Richard Rogers. The letter stated the EPA’s formal objection to the wastewater discharge permit issued to Asheboro last year, as that permit does not enforce restrictions on the suspected carcinogen. The EPA warned the DEQ that failure to enforce these restrictions could lead to federal intervention, in which the EPA may take over the permitting process from the state agency. The threat of intervention is a response

to a September 2024 ruling by Chief Judge Donald Van der Vaart of the N.C. O ce of Administrative Hearings (OAH), which allowed Asheboro to greatly increase discharge levels of the compound. That decision came after Greensboro and Reidsville joined Asheboro’s lawsuit challenging the DEQ’s dioxane restrictions, which lawyers for the three cities argued were unenforceable.

Before that ruling, the controversy went public at the May 7, 2024 meeting of Greensboro City Council, where District 5’s Tammi Thurm disputed statements by Jean Zhuang of the Southern Environmental Law Center, who accused Greensboro of “protecting polluters” by “ﬁghting” the DEQ’s attempts at tightening restrictions on the chemical.

“We are not ﬁghting regulation of the chemical,” said Thurm, who argued that the regulation was worded in a way “very di cult to enforce.”

Deputy City Attorney Tony Baker also argued that Greensboro was not resisting the regulation, but had only submitted a petition in Asheboro’s lawsuit against it as “our way of asking valid questions about that process.”

In his September decision, Van der Vaart ruled that the DEQ “arbitrarily and capriciously violated” the Administrative Procedures Act by enforcing 1,4-dioxane limits. According to Van der Vaart, the EPA’s classiﬁcation of the compound as a “likely” rather than proven carcinogen is evidence the DEQ “erred” by citing statutes that apply to carcinogens. He also wrote that enforcement would require di cult implementation of statewide water standards.

Van der Vaart formerly served as DEQ Secretary under Governor Pat McCrory and as a Senior Fellow at the John Locke Foundation.

Shortly after Van der Vaart’s ruling, former EPA O ce of Science and Technology Director Betsy Southerland called it “a power play by the people who are currently in charge of permitting in North Carolina,” whom she accused of taking authority away from the executive branch and giving it to “these new groups who say they’re no longer going to abide by the Clean Water Act.”

In her Jan. 3 letter to the DEQ, Butler wrote that Van der Vaart’s decision “inappropriately dismisses and voids a properly calculated e uent limit for a pollutant that is scientiﬁcally established to be a probable human carcinogen.”

“Typically, the classiﬁcation of a pollutant as a probable or likely carcinogen is

Ian McDowell

Contributor

Graph displaying spike in 1,4-Dioxane levels.

based on the existence of evidence drawn from animal studies rather than data from human exposures. The ability to conﬁrm carcinogenicity in a human population is often limited because, for obvious ethical reasons, cancer studies are not intentionally conducted on humans. Where direct evidence exists of human exposure impacts, it is usually based on exposures that occur due to the presence of a pollutant in the environment or workplace, and cancer incidence can be assessed in the exposed population. However, the Clean Water Act does not require permitting authorities to wait until carcinogenicity in humans is demonstrated to a scientiﬁc certainty before protecting drinking water supply waters, or protection against other routes of exposure.”

Therefore, she stated that “The EPA is hereby exercising its authority under Section 402(d) of the CWA [Clean Water Act] . . . to issue a specific objection to the Proposed Permit for the reasons described herein. The state or any interested party may request a public hearing on the objection within 90 days of the EPA’s specific objection. If a public hearing is not held, and N.C. DEQ does not submit a proposed permit that has been revised to meet a specific objection within 90 days of receipt of a specific objection, exclusive authority to issue the permit passes to the EPA.”

According to Kathleen Sullivan, Senior Communications Manager of the Southern Environmental Law Center, Asheboro and Greensboro have “the existing authority and obligation to control 1,4-dioxane pollution from industrial customers.”

Data from Greensboro’s T.Z. Osborne

wastewater treatment plant shows 1,4-dioxane levels through November 2024, but ends in that month, with no data for December or January.

“We haven’t been able to ﬁnd more recent 1,4-dioxane data on the city’s website, although it used to be posted and accessible,” said Zhuang.

When notiﬁed of this, Christine Williams, assistant director of water resources, for the City of Greensboro, sent YES! Weekly the following statement:

“Greensboro continues to voluntarily monitor for 1,4-dioxane and routinely provides data to various stakeholders including downstream utilities, environmental organizations, and governmental agencies. We were unaware that the City’s website hadn’t been updated with the latest sampling results, and that was corrected this morning (https://www.greensboro-nc.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/49738/638205433605470000). Greensboro remains committed to transparency with its sampling data, and will ensure that the website is updated moving forward.”

The graph at that link does not show a December and January rise in dioxane 1,4 comparable to Asheboro samples. The highest ﬁgure is 5.41 parts per billion, sampled on Dec. 31, and the most recent is 1.65 ppb, sampled on Jan. 28. In comparison, Asheboro’s sample was 3520 ppb on Jan. 25. !

IAN MCDOWELL is an award-winning author and journalist whose book I Ain’t Resisting: the City of Greensboro and the Killing of Marcus Smith was published in September of 2023 by

POND POUR HOUSE BAR

Scuppernong Editions.

Downstream discharge from Wastewater Treatment Plants.

NAME:

hot pour

[BARTENDER OF THE WEEK COMPILED BY NATALIE GARCIA]

Brittany Moore

BAR: High Point Bistro AGE: 30

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

Check out videos on our Facebook!

Walnut Cove, but I grew up in Kernersville.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN BARTENDING?

10 years.

HOW DID YOU BECOME A BARTENDER?

I started out serving at Hams restaurant, eventually working my way up to bartending and never stopped!

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY ABOUT BARTENDING?

The people! I’ve met some amazing people, some who have even changed my life and most of them I still know to this day!

WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING PART OF BARTENDING?

I would have to say would be remembering drink recipes, having a lot of patience and also being quick paced at all times.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DRINK TO MAKE?

A liquid marijuana.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DRINK TO DRINK? Wine, red or white!

WHAT’S THE STRANGEST DRINK REQUEST YOU’VE HAD? Bailey’s with lemonade.

WHAT’S THE CRAZIEST THING YOU’VE SEEN WHILE BARTENDING?

I’ve seen it all! Crazy bar ﬁghts, people pulling guns on each other over pool games for money, I’ve even had to chase after people who ran out on their tabs!

WHAT’S THE WEIRDEST THING YOU’VE FOUND IN A BAR BATHROOM? Couples…go home and do that mess!

WHAT’S THE BEST/BIGGEST TIP YOU’VE EVER GOTTEN?

$500

WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND AS AN AFTER-DINNER DRINK?

A chocolate martini for sure!

WANNA BE FEATURED IN HOT POUR?

Email Natalie Garcia at natalie@yesweekly.com and ask about being our Bartender of the Week!

[SALOME’S STARS]

Week of February 24, 2025

[ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Try to say as little as possible about the work you’re doing through the end of the month. Then you can make your announcement and accept your welldeserved plaudits.

[TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) A more di cult challenge than you expected emerges early in the week. But with your strong Taurean determination, you should be able to deal with it successfully by week’s end.

[GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Before you act on your “feelings” about an upcoming decision, it might be wise to do a little fact-checking ﬁrst. You could be very much surprised by what you don’t ﬁnd.

[CANCER (June 21 to July 22) A recent workplace success can open some doors that were previously closed to you. On a personal level, expect to receive some important news from a longtime friend and colleague.

[LEO (July 23 to August 22) Put your wounded pride aside and do what you must to heal a misunderstanding, before it can take a potentially irreversible turn and leave you regretting the loss of a good friend.

[VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) One way to kick a less-than-active social life into high gear or rebuild an outdated Rolodex ﬁle is to throw one of your well-organized get-togethers for friends and associates.

[LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Getting out of an obligation you didn’t really want to take on can be tricky. An

honest explanation of the circumstances can help. Next time, pay more attention to your usually keen instincts.

[SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Use your Scorpion logic to push for a no-nonsense approach to a perplexing situation. This could help keep present and potential problems from creating more confusion.

[SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) A friend’s problem might take more time than you wish to give. But staying with it once again proves the depth of your Sagittarian friendship and loyalty.

[CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) The Sea Goat can beneﬁt from an extra dose of self-conﬁdence to unsettle your detractors, giving you the advantage of putting on a strong presentation of your position.

[AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) You might want to ask a friend or relative for advice on an ongoing personal matter. But be careful not to give away information that you might later wish you had kept secret.

[PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Use the weekend for a creativity break to help restore your spiritual energy. Once this is done, you’ll be back and more than ready to tackle whatever challenge you need to face.

BORN THIS WEEK: You get great joy out of creating beautiful things and sharing them with others who appreciate them.