Triad Today

Someone asked me the other day what was to blame for the ills of society, and I answered, “social media.” For one thing, not since the American Civil War has there been such divisiveness in this country, and most of it stems from the free flow of vitriolic misinformation and the charlatans who spew it on various blogs and websites. But social media platforms have also made it easier for all types of criminals to operate. Some are hackers, some are con men, and some are child predators, the latter of whom are often protected by people who hardly ever use social media, but probably should. First, the good news.

Last week President Biden signed a law that will remove the federal statute of limitations on civil suits brought by survivors of child sex abuse. That means men and women who had been reluctant to report their childhood abuse, can come forward at any age and any time, to seek justice. This is welcome news to the untold hundreds of thousands of children who are sexually abused every year in this country. Of course, it’s difficult to know exactly how many children are sexually abused, mainly because most abuse goes unreported. And that brings me to a shameful loophole in the law that exempts clergy from reporting incidents of child sex abuse that they learn about from predators during confession.  

Currently, 33 states allow this heinous exemption. Fortunately, North Carolina is not one of them. Our statutes require “[…any] person or institution who has cause to suspect that any juvenile is abused or has died as a result of maltreatment, to make a report to the county department of social services where the child resides, or is found.” The only exception to the law is granted to attorneys under limited circumstances. However, the statute makes it clear that no one else is exempt: “All other recognized privileges such as clergy…are explicitly excluded as a ground for the person’s failure to report.”  

Here in North Carolina, a member of the clergy who fails to report child sex abuse is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, which carries a sentence of up to six months in prison and a fine to be determined by the Court. I suppose we should be grateful that our state lawmakers don’t entirely turn their backs on victims, but six months is not much of a punishment for shielding a dangerous predator.  

Among the 33 states that exempt clergy from having to report incidents of child sex abuse, several legislatures have recently undertaken efforts to close that loophole. Unfortunately, those efforts have failed. In Utah, for example, HB90 was defeated in large part because the Catholic church and Mormon leaders banded together and lobbied hard to preserve the sanctity of the confessional. Abused children be damned. 

If legislators in those 33 states are too weak to move against church leaders, then perhaps Biden could enact an Executive Order that would close the loophole under federal law. Until then, North Carolina lawmakers at least need to up the ante on punishment for clergy who protect child sex offenders. Such an offense deserves to be a felony, not a misdemeanor. In fact, given that clergy silence has allowed sexual predators to roam free and commit more crimes, we should charge those misguided men of the cloth with aiding and abetting.

I respect the sanctity of the confessional, and I’m all for keeping confidences when it comes to transgressions that don’t hurt other people. But if a predator confesses to his priest that he sexually molests children, then that priest is obligated to protect the victims, and prevent further abuses in the future. Any clergy who does otherwise is not fit to wear a collar.
 
 

Anyone who is a student of history or has ever been on a high school debating team knows that today’s televised candidate debates are not really debates. Whereas academic debate formats focus on one issue and allow participants to develop thoughtful responses, televised debates force candidates to address numerous issues in a race against the clock. In-depth discussion among candidates is a dead art and a thing of the past, and that’s too bad. I would love to have been around for the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858. That year, Lincoln was running against Democrat incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, and each debate ran about three hours. That meant when honest Abe stood up to speak, he could talk for a full hour on the evils of slavery without being interrupted. Compare that with today’s televised debates in which candidates are forced to give short, soundbite answers to “gotcha” questions posed by journalists who love to hear themselves talk.

The first nationally televised presidential debate was in 1960 between Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John Kennedy, and while it was more dignified than the Donald Trump-Hillary Clinton circus of 2016 (who can ever forget Trump inviting Bill Clinton’s alleged rape victims to sit in the audience?), it still ushered in an era in which TV debates were more about avoiding mistakes than engaging in positive discourse. JFK prepared for the match-up by getting a suntan and plenty of rest, while Nixon suffered through a knee injury, refused to wear make-up, and showed up looking pale and pasty with a five o’clock shadow. Americans who listened to the debate on radio thought Nixon scored the most points, but those who watched on TV said the more photogenic Kennedy won. The young Senator went on to win a narrow victory on Election Day, but it would be 16 more years before any major party candidates risked looking bad on TV.

Reagan made Jimmy Carter look bad in 1980 when he posed the question to viewers: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” (they weren’t). And he responded to Carter’s criticisms by saying, “There you go again.” Four years later the master communicator buried Walter Mondale by making a joke about the former Vice President’s “youth and inexperience.” In 1992, George H.W. Bush made the mistake of looking at his watch and appearing bored and disinterested. And in 2012, Obama made Mitt Romney look silly when Romney said, “The Navy is smaller now than in any time since 1917,” to which Obama replied, “Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets because the nature of our military has changed.” One could argue that candidates like JFK, Reagan, and Obama won their elections because they made their opponents look bad on television, therefore, debates serve a legitimate purpose. But most political pundits agree that TV debates very rarely change anyone’s mind.

Over time, TV debates have become an election year staple, but not just for presidential candidates. Those running for the House, Senate, and governor’s office have increasingly appeared on various local and statewide broadcast debate stages. Lately, however, there’s been more debate about debates than there have been actual debates. Here in North Carolina, Congressman Ted Budd recently made news when he refused to participate in a debate to be sponsored by the NC Association of Broadcasters. Budd’s critics tried to make a big deal of the NCAB snub, but if they thought he was afraid to debate or answer questions, they were badly mistaken. In fact, Ted has appeared on my Triad Today TV show numerous times, including a heated debate with then-opponent Kathy Manning. And later this week, he will face off against Cheri Beasley in a televised debate hosted by Spectrum News. Again, though, it’s unlikely that anything Budd or Beasley says at the Spectrum debate will result in anyone changing parties. Nor is it likely that a disproportionate number of undecided voters will gravitate to one candidate over another as a result of the debate. Perhaps things would be different if televised debates were real debates, with candidates having more time to speak, and with more camaraderie and less vitriol.

We almost had that leading up to the 1964 election. In 1963, President Kennedy and his friend Barry Goldwater (the presumptive GOP nominee in ’64) planned a joint whistle-stop tour in which the two rivals would ride the train together, and at each stop, stand out on the platform and hold an informal debate for the gathered crowd. It would have been a wondrous sight to see, but Kennedy’s life was cut short before he and Goldwater could realize their dream of a bi-partisan train trip. I wish candidates today would participate in whistle-stop debates, but I fear that will never happen. After all, who would operate the buzzer every time someone goes over his allotted 30 seconds?
 
 

Many years ago while visiting London, my wife Pam stepped off the curb and was almost run over by Prince Andrew’s car. Had she been underage perhaps Andrew would have stopped, but instead he just waved at her as he drove past. I too once had a brush with the royal family, and while it wasn’t life-threatening, it was life-altering. First, a few paragraphs to set the scene.

After working at various TV stations for ten years, I started a television production company in 1980 which allowed me to develop and distribute my own programs. The first couple of years, however, were lean ones, so I accepted freelance work from network broadcasters to keep the company afloat. CNN had just signed on the air and was always looking for news content, so I soon became a regular supplier of feature stories. Sometime during the last week of April 1981, I got a call from CNN to see if my crew could shoot video footage during Prince Charles’ upcoming visit to Colonial Williamsburg. Naturally, I said yes and began making plans to cover the big event.

Charles was to make a four-day swing through the east coast with stops in New York City, Washington, D.C., Norfolk (to inspect the USS Nimitz), and then on to Williamsburg, where he was scheduled to tour the Colonial Capitol and Governor’s Palace, and receive an honorary fellowship from the College of William and Mary. It may be hard to fathom now, but back then Charles was the world’s most eligible bachelor and a rock star of major proportions. Girls screamed at the Prince as he walked past Chandler Hall, where they displayed a hastily made banner that said “Hi Charlie!” It was as if the Beatles had come to town. They would have their hearts broken less than three months later, however, when Charles married Diana, but for that moment, he belonged to the screaming co-eds of William & Mary.

Unlike my other assignments for CNN in which I would write and narrate my own stories, on this day we were only responsible for shooting footage and assisting Kathleen Sullivan who would produce the package and appear on camera. Sullivan was the first female anchor hired by CNN, and one of the most stunningly beautiful women I had ever met. She was also a pretty good journalist, so I had no ego problems with playing a supporting role that day. Speaking of which, that day was Sunday, May 3. The weather was perfect for a royal visit, and for shooting video.

Back then the industry standard for recording video in the field was a 3/4 inch Sony U-matic cassette. Normally after shooting a story for CNN, we would hustle back to our offices in Petersburg to tape my voice-over and edit the package. There was no internet then, thus no way of emailing a video file. Instead, I had to take the finished tape to the airport and put it on the next flight to Atlanta. I always saved the raw tapes, and, for safety’s sake kept a dub (copy) of the completed package. Here’s where all this dull technical jargon begins to connect to what went wrong with my royal encounter.

For this assignment, neither I nor Kathleen would have to worry about putting tapes on a plane to Atlanta because she planned to drive to the CNN bureau in D.C. and have everything edited there. Since there would be no time to make dubs of everything in the field, I asked Kathleen to make sure she returned the raw tapes to me after the story was edited. She understood that our footage would have some historical importance, so she agreed to my request. Meanwhile, since Kathleen was acting as talent, it freed me up to take still photos of the occasion, so I strapped a 35mm camera around my neck and started snapping pictures as we followed Charles and Virginia Governor John Dalton around Colonial Williamsburg. Toward the end of the tour, the two men were about to enter the Colonial Capitol, and I had a chance at immortality.

Throughout the day, Charles had granted no interviews, nor posed for individual TV stations or networks, but I had an ace up my sleeve. I had worked with Gov. Dalton on a number of video assignments, and he was always obliging to me, so while all other photojournalists could only see the backs of the two men, I shouted out to Dalton, “Governor, turn him around for me”. Dalton complied, and now not only would I have some great video of Charles, but I would also be able to snap a potential Pulitzer Prize-winning photo destined for the cover of TIME magazine. I clicked off several shots, then Dalton and Charles turned back around and headed into the Capitol. My assignment had ended, and I was on cloud nine. I handed the video tapes over to Kathleen and reminded her to make sure no one at the D.C. bureau erased them before she could mail them back to me. She told me not to worry, and I trusted her because, after all, she was an anchorperson, and TV anchors are trustworthy.

Back at our office I realized that, during the day, I had tried to take about 50 photos on a roll of film that only had 24 exposures. In other words, I hadn’t kept track of how many times the shutter clicked, and so there were no photos of Prince Charles on that roll. So much for my Pulitzer Prize, but at least I would be able to relive that historic day once Kathleen mailed our raw tapes back to me. I called her the next day to make sure she had my correct address, and that’s when she told me the tapes had gotten lost and she didn’t know where they were. It was the last time I ever spoke to Kathleen Sullivan, and the last time I ever attempted to pose as a still photographer. 

Today my wife has a beautiful Wedgwood plate on display in our house, which has a personal inscription from The Duchess of York, whose husband had once tried to kill Pam. But nowhere in our house is a photo or video of England’s new king, who I once spent the day with. I feel badly about this entire incident, so perhaps Camilla will send me a plate to ease my pain. Long live the King, and to hell with Kathleen Sullivan.
 
 

Thanks to Judge Beryl Howell, we now know more about what was in the FBI search warrant served on Senator Richard Burr than we knew one year ago. That’s because on August 29, Howell ordered the Justice Department to release a less-redacted version of FBI agent Brandon Merriman’s warrant which allowed the agency to seize Burr’s cellphone. And what did Agent Merriman conclude after examining Burr’s phone and reviewing other information associated with the stock trade investigation? This statement was in his report: 

“I believe probable cause exists that Senator Burr used material, non-public information regarding the impact that COVID-19 would have on the economy, and that he gained that information by virtue of his position as a member of Congress.”

So why in heaven’s name wasn’t Burr formally charged with insider trading? Because federal investigators chose to accept Burr’s lame (and multiple) explanations of his sudden wealth. Burr’s initial statement in March of 2020 was that his decision to suddenly dump stocks was based on “CNBC’s daily health and science reporting out of its Asia bureaus.” But later when the FBI questioned him, Burr changed his story. According to the Winston-Salem Journal, we now know about his revised tale from the newly unredacted search warrant.

“Senator Burr explained that he was uncomfortable with a lot of things in the market…Burr discussed the fact that there has been a long bull market and that it was due for a correction…he also said that the surge of Bernie Sanders in the Democratic party’s nomination process was a risk to the market.” 

So, I guess Richard Burr had a crystal ball that no one else had, AND he was afraid that his investments would be devalued if Bernie Sanders snagged the Democratic nomination. Or maybe he just happened to watch CNBC’s Asian-based reporters after receiving classified briefings on COVID. If you believe any of that, then I have some swamp land I’d like to sell you. A simple review of the timeline suggests that Merriman’s conclusion about Burr’s stock trades is right on the money (pardon the expression). 

In January 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci briefed Burr about the seriousness of the spreading COVID-19 virus. Then, according to Reuters, three days later Burr, as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, began receiving daily COVID updates, and on January 31, he received a series of voicemails and text messages, which the Journal reported came from “an individual whose identity remains redacted.” Four hours later Burr, his wife, and her brother began to sell off stocks. During one eleven-minute period on February 13, the Burrs engaged in a flurry of stock trades which, by some estimates, netted them over a million dollars. Many of the stocks Burr unloaded were from the hospitality industry which he knew from private briefings would likely tank in a pandemic. It is important to note that just four hours after the Burrs completed their trading, U.S. Secretary of Health Alex Azar declared a national public health emergency because of COVID.     

Burr’s suspicious stock trades should come as no surprise to us. In fact, we should have known this was coming as far back as 2012 when he was one of only two senators who voted against the Stock Act. That act makes it illegal for any member of Congress to profit financially from proprietary information. Nevertheless, violations of the Stock Act are difficult to prove, as we have learned from Burr’s pandemic plunder. Richard Burr’s propensity for meteoric wealth building is also nothing new. Based on a report from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, when Burr entered Congress in 1994 his net worth was under $190,000. But, according to OpenSecrets.org, by 2018 Burr was worth over $7.4 million dollars. That’s an increase of 3,600 percent at a time when the income of average Americans rose by less than one percent. 

Over the years there have been proposals to augment the Stock Act. Elizabeth Warren, for example, has lobbied unsuccessfully to ban legislators from even trading stocks while in office. And earlier this year, a number of Democratic congressmen and senators attempted in vain to pass legislation that would have required their colleagues to put their portfolios in a blind trust. But if guys like Burr can slither out of violating the Stock Act, then they could do the same with any subsequent laws.

I can’t help but think of Martha Stewart, who in 2001, made a stock trade based on information from her broker’s assistant that the price of ImClone shares would probably decline because its CEO was about to retire. Martha dumped her ImClone stocks in order to avoid a loss that would have amounted to $45,000. For that, Stewart was convicted of obstruction, spent five months in federal prison, was given two years of supervised release, and had to wear an ankle monitor for five months. Moreover, her transactions had no bearing on the health of millions of Americans. The recently unredacted FBI warrants on Richard Burr is a hollow victory for transparency because the soon-to-be-retired Senator wasn’t held to account for the fortune he allegedly made from insider trading. Martha Stewart must be wondering why.
 
 

Last month, President Biden announced his plan to forgive a portion of student loan debt, and offer relief for some 45 million borrowers, over one million of who reside in North Carolina. Here’s how it works: If you took out a federal student loan, and you earn less than $125,000 per year (or less than $250,000 as a married couple), you could be eligible to have 10% of your debt forgiven. If you have a student loan and also received a Pell Grant through the Department of Education, you could get up to $20,000 of your debt forgiven (note that according to the White House, nearly all Pell Grant recipients come from families who earn less than $60,000 per year). It is an admirable initiative to be sure, but one that is fraught with questions about its legality, political motives, economic viability, and fairness.

FAIRNESS

First of all, is Biden’s plan fair? Right-winger Reed Rubinstein, director of oversight and investigations for the America First Legal Foundation told TIME, “This is such a slap in the face to everybody who did what they were supposed to do.” Translation? Millions of students honored the terms of their loans and worked hard to pay them back, and they are not eligible for one red cent of relief. “It’s also not fair to the untold number of Americans who never went to college,” said Alfredo Ortiz, CEO of the Job Creators Network. Moreover, if you took out a private loan, the Biden plan won’t help you either. One could also argue that it’s not fair to all of us taxpayers who expected to be repaid with interest for every dollar we loaned these students. Speaking of taxpayers, the student loan forgiveness program has one catch: recipients of relief must count the amount of debt forgiven as personal income. That means about 27 million low-income students could be on the hook to pay taxes on $20,000 of income. It doesn’t seem fair, but it’s a harsh reality and one that was best explained in a classic scene from Leave it to Beaver.

Beaver: So Wally, you’re really gonna make $10 a day?
Wally: Sure, and they’re gonna take withholding out of it.
Beaver: What’s withholding?
Wally: That’s money they take out of your salary to run the government with.
Beaver: Gee, I didn’t know they took money away from kids to run the government.
Wally: Sure, even if you’re a little baby and you have some money, they’ll come and take it away from you.

POLITICAL MOTIVES

In 2020, Joe Biden campaigned on how we needed to help students saddled with college debt. At that time, education debt topped $1.7 trillion dollars. But while debt was high, talk was cheap. During his first week in office, the President signed a record number of executive orders about everything but, you guessed it, student debt. Biden, who had spent most of his adult life in and around the Capitol, hinted that he needed Congressional support to enact a meaningful student debt forgiveness program, so he did nothing for two years. Then suddenly a little more than two months before the midterm elections, he announced his bold plan. There’s nothing like coming to the rescue of 40 million voters to motivate a politician.

ECONOMIC VIABILITY

Not everyone is a fan of Biden’s rescue plan for students. Alfredo Ortiz commented to TIME that, “A student loan bailout will further exacerbate inflation, increase the deficit, and lead to higher taxes.”

It begs the question, should Biden’s program be put on hold until inflation is under control? The answer would seem to be yes.

LEGALITY

President Biden is relying on the 2003 HEROES Act for the legal authority to launch his student loan forgiveness program. The Act gives the Secretary of Education authority to “change student financial assistance programs during a war or national emergency.” In this case, Biden claims the pandemic and its aftermath qualify as a national emergency. But critics like Third Way’s Vice President Lanae Erickson disagree. “It’s on shaky legal ground,” he told TIME’s Brian Bennett. 

Biden’s program is supposed to start in January, but anyone expecting to receive loan relief then may be disappointed if legal challenges ensue. Nevertheless, regardless of the pitfalls, controversies, and potential delays associated with Biden’s loan forgiveness program, the White House recommends that qualified borrowers visit www.StudentAid.gov/debtrelief to apply. Or, if you’re skeptical you can visit its companion website, www.ImFromTheGovtAndImHereToHelp.com.

 
 

Lawyers and police officers are supposed to know, enforce, and obey the laws. Here in North Carolina, Attorney General Josh Stein is both the state’s top cop and top lawyer, therefore, he, more than anyone, should be held accountable if he breaks the law. Instead, Stein is now trying to slither out of prosecution by arguing that the law he broke is unconstitutional. And it’s not a brand new law that he was unaware of. It is a state law that dates back to 1931. So why is Stein just now trying to get it changed? BECAUSE HE BROKE IT! That’s why.

The saga began in 2020 when Stein was running against long-time Forsyth County district attorney Jim O’Neill. That year, one of the hot campaign issues was the backlog of unprocessed rape kits on the local and state levels. Both sides exploited the issue for political purposes, but Stein crossed the line with a TV ad that accused O’Neill’s office of having “left 1,500 rape kits sitting on the shelf,” the implication being that O’Neill’s failure to test those rape kits in a timely manner allowed rapists to roam free and rape more victims. O’Neill claimed that Stein broke a 1931 law that “makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly circulate false, derogatory reports about a candidate with the intent of hurting that candidate’s chances in the election” (source AP). Violators of the law would pay a fine and could spend up to 60 days in jail. 

Not surprisingly, a Wake County grand jury recently found that Stein should be indicted. But the very next day, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2 to 1, to override the grand jury, essentially preventing the law from being enforced until Stein’s team had time to try and prove that the law as written is unconstitutional. The panel is comprised of two Democratic judges and one Republican judge. The two Democrats sided with Stein, who is also a Democrat. So much for justice being blind. In their ruling, the two Democrat judges said that Stein’s TV ad was protected as free speech, thus his challenge to the 1931 law would likely succeed. Their decision will have the effect of running out the clock on O’Neill’s team because the statute of limitations expires next year.

In her dissenting opinion, the lone Republican judge on the panel wrote, “Stein’s campaign, the ad production company, and the woman who appeared in the ad, haven’t shown they are entitled to this extraordinary relief…the State will forever lose its opportunity to enforce the law if the grand jury proceedings are stopped.”

Clearly the dissenting judge doesn’t believe that free speech under the First Amendment protects lying and defaming, and I agree. But the sad truth is if we start enforcing the 1931 law every time a candidate lies in an ad, then the jails would be overflowing with politicians.

And so, boys and girls, the civics lesson we can all take from this story is very clear. The next time the police stop you for driving 80 mph in a 35 mph zone, just tell the judge he can’t fine you or take away your license because you and your attorneys are working to have the speed limit changed to 85 mph. Tell him Josh Stein said it’s OK.

 
 

In the summer of 1970, I was the public address announcer for Ernie Shore Field. It was a dream job for a high school kid who loved baseball because I got to be around and get to know all of the players on what was then the Winston-Salem Red Sox. That year the Sox won the Carolina League championship, and during every home game, I occupied a seat in the press box next to the legendary sports journalist Frank Spencer. Actually, it wasn’t much of a press box. What it was, was a small, rickety wooden shack that sat atop the stadium, and legend has it that sometime after my tenure, a strong wind blew the shack off its perch, and onto the ground below. Years later the Sox became the DASH and moved into a new stadium overlooking I-40. Ernie Shore Field, meanwhile, was renovated and became the home of Wake Forest University baseball. I mention all of this because I know a little something about why stadiums sometimes need to be upgraded, and because last week we learned that Major League Baseball (MLB) gave the DASH an ultimatum: either spend $5 million dollars to renovate Truist Field or else lose the franchise.

Keep in mind that, unlike Ernie Shore Field, which was built in the dark ages, the new DASH stadium didn’t open until 2010, so there’s no rickety press shack to replace. In fact, the twelve-year-old facility is in great shape, but MLB likes to throw its weight around these days, and given the number of minor league teams it has already closed down, the City of Winston-Salem has no choice but to comply.

So exactly what improvements is MLB demanding to be made? For one, the league wants clubhouse areas to be renovated for both home and visiting teams. The Winston-Salem Journal also reports that MLB wants improvements made to laundry and commissary areas, plus private locker rooms for female staff, coaches and umpires. They also want a second hitting and pitching tunnel that is protected from the elements, along with changes to the field, including adjusting the bullpen mounds, and a higher wall in the right field corner. No doubt the improvements will be a welcome sight to players and coaches, and they will increase the value of the stadium. But the improvements are not essential, nor will they enhance the fan experience. Speaking of fans, they’re the ones paying for the renovation, and that leads me to an insulting sticking point about this saga.

The $5 million dollars worth of upgrades to Truist stadium are being paid for through limited obligation bonds, which means the expenditure doesn’t have to be approved by voters. So much for democracy and transparency. And this isn’t the first time local taxpayers have been railroaded because of the same baseball park. Years ago, residents got stuck with paying $48 million dollars for construction of the stadium after private developers walked away from the project before it was completed. In a perfect world, the DASH stadium should have been built with private money, as was the beautiful Greensboro Grasshopper’s facility. In a perfect world, residents of Winston-Salem should have had a say about cost overruns and projected renovations from the get-go. But we don’t live in a perfect world. We live in a world where a greedy baseball league can bully, threaten, and extort our elected officials, and where residents have to pony up another cut of their meager wages, or else face having to maintain a vacated facility.

Fifty-two years ago, Winston-Salem’s minor league baseball team played in a well-worn stadium with smelly old locker rooms and no fancy area for pitchers to warm up in. And 52 years ago, I announced the proceedings from inside a rickety wooden press shack that teetered high atop the stands. Yet somehow a record number of fans attended our games, and the team brought home a championship trophy. Major League Baseball didn’t threaten us back then, and nobody worried about obligation bonds. Now as then, baseball owners depend upon cities like Winston-Salem to nurture future stars that will help keep big league coffers overflowing. In that sense, we’re more important to their bottom line than they are to ours. It’s something to think about the next time we receive an ultimatum from a bunch of rich guys.

 
 

Acting can be dangerous. Just ask Clu Gulager:

“I played the Mouse King in third grade, and this girl named Marian Bebb threw a shoe at me and killed me.”

It’s no wonder young Clu put his acting career on hold for a while. Who wouldn’t, after being killed by a flying shoe? Still, the work he did during his formative years was no picnic either, but at least it prepared him for some of the roles he would play later on.

“I was a cowboy in Oklahoma, where we raised white-face cattle. I used to have to ride the fences, and in winter it was really cold. When I saw a break in the fence, I had to get down off of my pony with some wire and fix that break. The thing I’m most proud of in my whole life is that, on my watch, not one white face got away.”

And while Clu spent most of his time doing cowboy chores, he was also influenced by his father’s many talents as a cowboy performer in Vaudeville and on Broadway. The elder Gulager was particularly known for his mastery of rope tricks, something he had in common with a famous relative.

“My father grew up in Indian Territory with his cousin Will Rogers. They were both very adept at trick roping. According to my aunt, Will would spend hours and hours down by the barn practicing with the ropes. He always wanted to improve. But my uncle once told me, ‘Your Dad was better than Will at twirling ropes!’”

Inspired by his father’s showmanship, and armed with a fierce work ethic, Clu struck out on his own, and paid his dues as a thespian by appearing on stage, as well as in a number of live television dramas. He soon signed as a contract player with Universal Studios where he appeared in everything from mystery series to crime shows. But the Oklahoma ranch hand also found himself working on TV westerns, which led to his being offered the starring role of Billy the Kid on NBC’s The Tall Man.  

“My agent and I sat in the car for about three hours deciding whether or not to wait for movies, or take The Tall Man series. I had a wife and little boy to support, so I took the TV show, and I’ve never regretted it.”

But Gulager, who studied the Stanislavski Method, was as serious about his acting as he had been about his ranching, and the shooting schedule of make-believe westerns was frustrating to the young star.

“Artists pride ourselves on taking our time to find things in the words. But that didn’t happen on TV. The networks wanted those shows yesterday, so we had to really speed along, and couldn’t even rehearse. We shot each episode of The Tall Man in two and a half days.”

The Tall Man was canceled after two seasons, but not because of hectic schedules or low ratings. Instead, Clu told me it was politics and politicians who killed Billy the Kid.

“Congress debated the fact that Billy the Kid was a killer, and that I was playing him as a hero on television, which wasn’t good for our children. So they pressured NBC to take The Tall Man off the air. Of course, Congress let ABC keep The Untouchables, and our show wasn’t one-eighth as violent as that show.” 

Soon after the cancellation of The Tall Man, Gulager signed up to play a recurring role on The Virginian until 1968, then spent the next three decades as a highly sought-after guest star for scores of TV dramas such as Murder She Wrote, Hawaii Five-O, and The Streets of San Francisco. A career highlight was landing the role of the town lothario in Peter Bogdanovich’s film, The Last Picture Show. The co-star he was supposed to seduce was a young model named Cybill Shepherd. 

“One day, Peter wanted to stand in for me during Cybill’s close-ups, and my heart sank. I thought I was just a bad actor, and that Peter didn’t want me feeding Cybill her lines. I didn’t realize Peter and Cybill had fallen in love. Much later, I was told that Peter had actually wanted to play my part, but the casting director wanted me, and Peter eventually agreed.

I first met Clu Gulager in 2013 at the Western Film Festival, and we stayed in touch periodically after that. Sadly, Clu passed away on August 5 at the age of 93. Gulager’s acting career lasted nearly 70 years, yet he managed to re-invent himself for each new generation of fans. Us old folks remember Clu for his work in Westerns while younger audiences know him for his appearances in horror films like Return of the Living Dead and Piranha 3DD, proving two things: a real artist can master any genre; and, anyone who can survive a shoe attack can survive a piranha attack. 

RIP, cowboy.

(You can view my 2013 interview with Clu by visiting my Celebrity Interviews page at www.jimlongworth.com.)

 
 

Most of us have a special place in our home where we display pictures of our family. For me that special place is a credenza that features framed photos of my wife Pam, my sister, our parents, and my two make-believe brothers, Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers.

From 1957 to 1963, Jerry and Tony played brothers Theodore and Wally Cleaver on Leave it to Beaver, a sitcom about the adventures of two siblings growing up in middle America. In later years, some revisionist media pundits would criticize the show as having painted an unrealistically positive picture of family life, but to millions of boys growing up in the 1950s and ‘60s, the Cleaver household was a great place to visit every week.

This fall, Leave it to Beaver will celebrate its 65th anniversary, and it’s also the anniversary of when Jerry and Tony’s lifelong friendship began. Jerry told me that despite their age difference, “We became friends right off the bat. Between takes, Tony would always toss football or throw baseball with me.” The two boys had also come from different backgrounds. Unlike his “brother” Jerry Mathers, who had been a child actor long before Leave it to Beaver, Tony had been a junior Olympic diving champion with absolutely no desire to be on camera. Once cast as Wally, though, Tony became one of TV’s first teenage heartthrobs. Yet despite all the fame and adulation that the show brought him, Tony remained a reluctant star with a non-existent ego.

After the show ended, both men continued acting, but Tony preferred to make his mark behind and away from the cameras, first as a director, then as a master sculptor, the latter giving him an escape from his earlier bouts of depression. Tony’s burl wood sculptures are world famous, and one of them was even displayed in the Louvre. Pam and I were fortunate enough to attend one of his one-man shows, and later visit with him and his lovely wife Lauren at their home in Topanga. We stayed in touch over the years by phone and email, and one of my favorite correspondences is a photo of Tony, Lauren, and their dog Brodie, with a note that said, “Hello Pam and Jim. We loved getting to know you and hope our paths cross again in the future.” Unfortunately, the future wasn’t as long as I had hoped it would be. During the pandemic, Tony fought off both pneumonia and liver cancer. The latter took him from us on July 27. Tony Dow was 77.

I first met Tony and Jerry back in May of 2008 when I was asked to produce and moderate A Mothers Day Salute to TV Moms for the Television Academy in North Hollywood. Barbara Billingsley, who played the boys’ mother on Leave it to Beaver, was scheduled to be on the panel with other iconic TV Moms, but she was hospitalized just prior to the event, and was unable to attend. That’s when I invited Jerry and Tony to attend on her behalf, and say a few words about what Barbara meant to them. Keep in mind that, prior to my introducing the Cleaver boys, the stage was already filled with dozens of A-list stars, including Cloris Leachman and Diahann Carroll, each of whom had received an enthusiastic welcome from the capacity crowd. But in all my years of producing and moderating special events, I’ve never witnessed a bigger standing ovation than the one that Tony and Jerry received when I brought them up on stage. I guess it wasn’t just me who had wanted to be their make-believe brother.

The following year during our visit to the Dows’ home, Pam and I were first struck by the natural beauty of their hide-away estate. It is a garden spot surrounded by the hills of Topanga Canyon, where Tony would hunt for pieces of burl wood, which he formed into bronze masterpieces at his workshop. Inside the house, we were treated to lunch and a front-row seat to one of Hollywood’s great romances, which began 42 years ago. Tony and Lauren’s love for each other was real and deep, and everlasting. The day after Tony died, Lauren told me, “It’s hard to lose your best friend.” 

Not surprisingly, during their four decades together, Tony preferred spending time at home with Lauren to the glitz of Hollywood red carpets, so I was particularly excited when he let me coax him into appearing on stage that special night in 2008. Honestly, though, I don’t think Tony appreciated what he meant to millions of people, and he seemed genuinely surprised by the grand ovation that he and Jerry received at the TV Moms event. I wasn’t surprised, though. That’s just the kind of humble guy my make-believe big brother was, and I miss him. Gee Wally, why’d you have to go and leave us so soon?

 
 

“Legacy” is an overused word. A great athlete, for example, may claim that hitting lots of home runs is his legacy. The founder of a business is said to be leaving a legacy to his children when they succeed him. Kids whose parents graduated from an Ivy League University are automatically accepted in those elite schools because they are “legacy” students. But I believe the true meaning of the word has more to do with selflessness than with entitlement. That’s why when I look in the dictionary under the word “legacy”, there’s a picture of my friend Bob Shackleford.

Bob recently stepped down as president of Randolph Community College after serving in that position for 15 years, but he has been in education for most of his life. His journey to Asheboro included earning degrees in everything from secondary education to a Ph.D. in human development, and a Master of Divinity. He has been a teacher and a military chaplain, and along the way, he’s chaired everything from United Way campaigns to Economic Development Corporations. Yet, as impressive as Bob’s resume is, his accomplishments while serving as RCC President are even more so.

He built a state-of-the-art Allied Health Center, created a computer-integrated machining institute, expanded the welding center, nurtured a world-class photography department, negotiated an agricultural exchange program with an eastern NC university, created a student emergency fund, kept an apprenticeship program thriving even during the pandemic, and he started a student assistance program that helped to break down barriers to succeeding in college. “Most of the problems we deal with students are not academic. They wrestle with life, whether it’s taking care of children or an elderly parent, or dealing with health problems like depression or substance abuse. What we can do as a College is to help them”, said Bob. 

And, helping students succeed is at the heart of Bob’s legacy, as he told me during a conversation we had on Triad Todayearlier this year.

 

---

Jim: Why did you go into the education field?

Bob: Well Jim I grew up very poor. My family and I lived in a little trailer and moved around because of my Dad’s work, and I didn’t have a prayer. I didn’t know what I wanted to be or ever could be. And my Mom told me, “If you get your education and work hard, you can be anything you want to be.” I got my education, I’ve lived my dream, and I’m passing along the gift she gave to me to other students who are where I was.

Jim: It would take us a few hours to list all your accomplishments, but let’s talk about a couple of them, starting with your role as one of the driving forces behind the development of the Guilford/Randolph mega site. That’s paying off now with the Toyota battery plant coming in. What’s the economic impact of that project?

Bob: It’s going to be profound in the whole region and the whole State. They’re investing $1.3 billion dollars. They’re going to create over 1,700 jobs, with a salary of over $65,000. In phase two, they’ll invest another couple of billion dollars, and create thousands more jobs. Overall, the impact will be new housing developments, new schools, new churches, and new communities. And when it’s all said and done with all the new supply companies coming in, it will bring in about 15,000 new jobs.

And, it’s a tribute to Bob that he was on the front end of bringing those new jobs to the region, while on the back end he’ll be providing training for the folks who need those jobs. Speaking of training, Bob has been proactive in adapting and developing courses that will prepare students to meet the needs of area industry. That commitment is evident in RCC’s new Allied Health Center which is named for Shackleford.

Jim:  Why was the new center needed and how will it benefit students?

Bob: Well, the original center was just a nursing building. But we’ve added so many health programs since then that they were scattered all over the campus. We now have a state-of-the-art, high-tech allied health center with a simulated hospital, and it’s going to create jobs that are going to stay right here in the Triad. It’s supplying the need for nurses, radiographers, all kinds of health-related jobs that are not going to be transported overseas, they’re right here, well-paying jobs right here in the community.

Jim: What’s something else you’re proud of that you were able to accomplish during your tenure as President of Randolph Community College?

Bob: A number of years ago I campaigned for a 4-cent tax referendum. In fact, I gave 55 speeches in seven weeks, and I was told by a bank executive that Randolph County wouldn’t vote for a tax increase, but we won, and it ended up bringing $24 million dollars to RCC for advanced technology, the Allied Health Center, and so much more.

Jim: Why retire now?

Bob: My family decided it was their turn, and my little granddaughter said, “The college will have other presidents, but you’re the only papa I’ll ever have.”

---

 

You can’t argue with her logic. After all, it comes from someone who appreciates a legacy.

 
 

A lot of folks seemed shocked when Vernon Robinson announced that he was organizing a gun raffle for the Forsyth Republican party. The Winston-Salem Journal criticized the local GOP for being “tone deaf” to the recent massacres in Texas and Illinois. In fact, according to Forsyth Democratic party chair Kevin Farmer, two of the assault-style rifles being raffled “appear to be” models used in the Highland Park massacre. Yet true to form, Vernon fired back, saying, “People like gun raffles and it is a great way to raise money. The only people who are upset about gun raffles are people who are hostile to guns and gun owners.”

If Vernon’s use of the word “people” sounds familiar as a misdirection from facts and reality, that’s because it is. A certain Republican president used to and still does attribute unsupported statements to “people say”. I’m a gun owner, so I obviously don’t hate gun owners. However, I oppose this particular raffle because it comes at a time when we shouldn’t be promoting the use of semi-automatic weapons. Still, if you know anything about Vernon Robinson, then nothing about his gun raffle should surprise you.

After serving two terms on Winston-Salem City Council, Vernon became a perennial also-ran for just about every other office on the state and local level. He was also known for his political grandstanding, like the time he placed a one-ton granite replica of the Ten Commandments at the front door of City Hall in an effort to show that God’s laws should be on full display at government buildings. To hell with the separation of church and state.

Vernon would say and do just about anything to get attention and to promote himself, ostensibly as a viable candidate for whatever elected position he sought at the time. He was a rare commodity: an ultra-conservative African-American Republican. In fact, he referred to himself as “The Black Jesse Helms”. He was also Trump before Trump was Trump. And that brings me to the election of 2004.

That year, George Bush was running for re-election and Rep. Richard Burr announced that he was giving up his congressional seat in order to run for the Senate. Burr’s announcement brought no less than eight GOP stalwarts out of the woodwork and into the race to represent the 5th district. The field included Ed Broyhill, Nathan Tabor, state Senator Virginia Foxx, and Robinson. Thanks to Vernon’s high profile, he came in first place in the July primary, but couldn’t muster the 40% he needed to avoid a run-off with Foxx, who finished second. The run-off was scheduled for August 10, so I invited both candidates to appear together on Triad Today the weekend prior to the election. 

During their joint appearance, Vernon was typically animated and bombastic, at one point accusing Virginia of “telling whoppers”. But the whopper meter spiked when I called out Vernon for repeatedly bragging about his military combat experience. “What war did you serve in Vernon?” I asked. “The Cold War”, he replied. I continued to press him for specifics about his actual combat experience until he finally admitted that he had none. As I said before, Vernon was Trump before Trump was Trump. Foxx went on to win the run-off, and Vernon later blamed me for his loss.

Had Robinson defeated Foxx in 2004, he would have been North Carolina’s first radical right-wing Congressman in modern times, and by January 6, 2021, he probably would have been up on the stage with Trump, urging the crowd (some of whom were armed) to march to the Capitol. Instead, he is a private citizen grabbing headlines any way he can, this time by using guns to raise money for the Republican party.  

You can call Vernon Robinson anything you like, but don’t make the mistake of thinking he is tone deaf. The fact is, when it comes to what the Republican base and its election-deniers are saying, Vernon hears them loud and clear.

 
 

Both of my parents were fortunate to have been under hospice care before they passed away, so I can testify first-hand that the folks who provide patients with serious illness and end-of-life-care will someday occupy a special place in heaven. That’s especially true for the team at Mountain Valley Hospice & Palliative Care.

Mountain Valley Hospice, headquartered in Mt. Airy, serves an 18 county area in North Carolina and Virginia with offices and facilities located throughout the region. In addition to providing in-home care, they operate in-patient hospice homes in Dobson and Yadkinville.

Mountain Valley also offers special programs such as We Honor Veterans, and Camp Kids Path to help children deal with the loss of a loved one. They even offer a Pet Peace of Mind program, and, of course, they provide support for families of hospice patients.

This weekend, members of the Mountain Valley team will appear on Triad Today to talk about everything from access to care, to the importance of volunteers. The program was taped earlier, and will air this Saturday and Sunday. 

While some hospice agencies in North Carolina are for profit, Mountain Valley is non profit, so we began the show with a discussion about what that means to patients and their families.

“Our goal is to make sure that every patient who is hospice eligible can gain access to care,” said Stephanie Tilley, Senior director of Growth & Access. “Many folks are surprised to learn that only about 50% of patients who meet the eligibility for Medicare actually utilize the Medicare benefits.”

But even those who don’t meet Medicare criteria are never turned away.

“We take care of those who can’t afford to take care of themselves, those who have no insurance, no financial means. Our mission is to serve every patient, every family, every time,” said Tracey Dobson, President and CEO of Mountain Valley Hospice.

In order to provide charitable care for some patients, Mountain Valley Hospice relies on donations, and occasionally hosts fundraising events.

“Proceeds from these events go to support our patient services and community programs.  It’s what enables us to not have to turn anyone away due to an inability to pay,” said Sara Tavery, Senior director of Philanthropy and Volunteers.

The Mountain Valley Hospice team includes doctors, nurses, chaplains, and a large support staff. But that team of caring professionals is also complimented by an army of volunteers who help serve the needs of patients and their families. 

“Volunteers are truly the heart of hospice. We are so fortunate to have a great group of volunteers. They are vital to helping us carry out our mission, and to provide compassionate care to our patients,” Tavery said.

Like my parents, most patients receive hospice care in their own home./p>

“Nursing care is available 24/7 for patients in their own home. We have CNAs who can help with bathing and dressing patients. Our chaplains  offer spiritual support, and then we have social workers who help manage resources for our patients,” said Jenna Campbell, Chief Clinical Operations Officer.

Mountain Valley also operates two, state-of-the-art in-patient hospice homes for when at-home care is no longer practical.

“It’s when we can no longer manage the patient’s symptoms at home, so we need to take it a step up, and have the provider more involved at the bedside,” said Campbell.

But regardless of whether care is provided at home or in a hospice home, the goal is the same, as Chief Medical director Dr. Glenn Golazewski explained.

“It’s important to keep hospice patients comfortable, and that’s what folks want when they’re dealing with end stage illnesses.”

You can watch our Triad Today salute to hospice this Saturday at 7:30am on abc45, and on Sunday at 11am on MY48.

For more information about hospice care, visit MtnValleyHospice.org or to schedule an appointment, call 888-789-2922.