The Housing Authority Claims That They Must Sell Crystal Towers, But Their Documents Tell A Different Story

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In August 2018, the Winston-Salem Housing Authority put Crystal Towers up for sale. Last summer, the Journal reported that the Arden Group (car dealers turned real estate developers) made an offer to purchase Crystal. Yet, Crystal Towers is not a downtown redevelopment story. Selling Crystal Towers, removing 200 poor and elderly (majority POC) residents from downtown to god-knows-where is GENTRIFICATION! If you don’t believe me, ask Councilmember Jeff MacIntosh.

WS/FC School System’s Proposed Location For A New Brunson Is Actually Closer To Ashley Academy

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Late Sunday night, I stumbled upon a friend’s Facebook post. She shared that the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System has found a potential site for a new Brunson Elementary. Sometimes a friend reports news that our paper of record fails to deliver. If the proposed location is approved, the former Thomasville Furniture factory at 1245 Ivey Avenue (and adjoining properties) will one day produce kids reading at or above grade level. The Thomasville Furniture site on post-industrial hill will be presented at Tuesday afternoon’s Building and Grounds Committee meeting, then discussed at the full school board meeting later that evening.

Most Of Winston-Salem’s Power Players Are Connected To Wake Forest

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Recently the Triad Business Journal released its 2019 Triad Power Players list. These are the women and men who get projects in the Piedmont done-often for their own benefit and the benefit of others like them. Some members of the Business Journal’s Triad Power Players, such as High Point University President, Nido Qubein, hold high profile positions. Other members of the Business Journal’s elite list, such as Ben Sutton Jr., fly below the radar unless he’s writing an eight-figure check to his alma mater. It’s interesting how the majority of the members of the Triad’s business class and their non-profit, academic, and government allies operate exclusively in one city or another, but almost never in all three of the Triad’s cities.

Crystal Towers Resident Who Was Run Over In The Street Is Determined Not To Get Pushed Out Of Downtown Winston

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Last month, a resident of Crystal Towers was hit by a car at the intersection of West Fifth and Spruce. When I learned about the accident on Twitter, I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew who the victim was. The Journal’s Allison Lee Isley’s photo of an empty wheelchair in front of an EMS vehicle confirmed my suspicions. The victim was, in fact, D.D. Watkins, a wheelchair-using friend of mine who was trying to get back to Crystal Towers on a Friday afternoon when an SUV ran her over. I spoke to D.D. while she was recovering at Wake Forest Baptist and again after she returned home to Crystal Towers.

Replacing Dixie Is A Conundrum For Winston-Salem’s City Council

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At next Monday’s City Council meeting, the council will finally decide what the new name for the Dixie Classic Fair will be. Tuesday, the General Government Committee failed to reach consensus. They were split. Some council members preferred Carolina Classic Fair while others supported the Piedmont Classic Fair. Both names lack originality.

Ashley Gets Land, But The Neighborhood Gets Blamed For Inaction

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Monday afternoon, the City Council’s Finance Committee unanimously approved selling City property in the area of New Hope Lane and East Twenty-First Street to the WS/FC Schools, to be used for a new Ashley Elementary. The full City Council will vote on the matter next Monday. Finally, local officials are moving to acquire land for a school that desperately needs replacing. Eunice Campbell and other activists that spoke before the City Council last month deserve a lot of credit for getting the City and WS/FC Schools to strike a deal. The lots in question were optioned to the Housing Authority in 2005.

Bernie Inspires At Bennett College

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Bernie Sanders held a rally at Bennett College yesterday. But he didn’t come alone. Sanders brought “National Campaign Co-Chairs Sen. Nina Turner and Ben Cohen (of Ben & Jerry’s), and national surrogates rapper Killer Mike, activist Phillip Agnew, actor Danny Glover, and professors Dr. Cornel West and Dr. Adolph Reed.” The 800 seat capacity Annie Merner Pfeiffer Chapel was full beyond capacity. I stood with many others in the back of the chapel.

Climate Strike! Young And Old Gather At Five Points To Demand Climate Action

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If the future of the planet depends on Richard Burr, we are all in trouble. North Carolina’s senior senator has been in D.C. for 25 years, first as a Congressman, then-Senator. In two and a half decades, Burr has done practically nothing to protect the people of North Carolina from rapacious corporate interests. Despite the long odds of getting Richard Burr to stand-up to the likes of Exxon, over 100 protestors (by the Journal’s count) gathered at Five Points Friday. We were part of a global Climate Strike, inspired by Greta Thunberg.

Wall Street Is Questioning Billy Prim, The People Of Winston Should Do The Same

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The Journal recently reported that an activist investment firm is going after Billy Prim, Primo Water’s founder, and current Executive Chairman. Legion Partners LP of Beverly Hills is aggressively targeting the Yadkin County native and his chums on Primo’s board in a just-released, 11-page open letter. The “small-town entrepreneur [who] tackled Wall Street and came away with a $400 million deal” may get tackled by Wall Street this go-round. In the 11-page document, Legion Partners LP argues that Primo has underperformed under Prim. Legion expressed outrage that Prim stacked Primo’s board with his know-nothing friends from his former business, Blue Rhino.

“Think Orange” Month…Winston Applies A Band-aid To A Broken Arm

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Thoughts and reports, that’s what the poor get from the City of Winston-Salem. Sure, the City distributes a great deal of money to local non-profits, that do some decent work addressing the immediate needs of the poor. But the City of Winston-Salem is by no means marshaling the resources at its disposal to address poverty in the Twin City. At the start of Monday’s City Council meeting, Mayor Joines proclaimed September,  “Think Orange Month” in Winston-Salem. The Mayor and W-S Alliance president first announced his “Think Orange” campaign in August 2018.