Triad Today

I once asked the Reverend Jesse Jackson if voter apathy was the biggest threat to our democracy. “No,” he said. “The biggest threat is voter suppression.” Unfortunately, Jackson’s assessment has become all too real. In some states, minorities are purged from the voter rolls because they didn’t cast a ballot in a previous election. In other states, the number of early voting days and polling places have been reduced. In North Carolina if you vote early, then die before November 3, your vote doesn’t count. Meanwhile Voter ID is on the horizon, and now, as an increasing number of minorities choose to vote by mail, the Postmaster General has scrapped hundreds of sorting machines, and forced postal workers to leave bags of mail undelivered because overtime has been slashed. Add to that the practice of gerrymandering which all but assures the election of white candidates, and you can understand why people of color are concerned about this year’s elections. One of them is Keith Grandberry, but instead of just complaining about voter suppression, he’s taking steps to combat it.

Grandberry is the former CEO of the Winston-Salem Urban League, and now Founder of Helping Hands Consultants. On the global front, Keith has worked with leaders in underdeveloped nations to create new industry, and build libraries and hospitals. Back home, his passion is voter education, so he travels throughout a nine-state area to spearhead voter registration drives. The reason is simple. “The power of your voice is your vote,” says Grandberry.

I spoke with Keith recently about his tireless efforts to encourage people of color to exercise their vote.

JL: It seems like you’re on some sort of personal crusade.

KG: I am. The other day my daughter Shayla and I talked about the systematic racism that this country is dealing with. She spoke of the increasing number of innocent Black people who have died at the hands of police, like George Floyd, Trayvon Martin. Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Breonna Taylor. And Shayla said that she and her friends make their voices heard by protesting. I certainly don’t discourage her from protesting at rallies and marches, but I told her that the most powerful form of protest is voting.

JL: But traditional protests can, themselves lead to reform, right?

KG: Absolutely. We all know about the marches that John Lewis participated in at great risk to his own safety, and those protests paved the way for passage of the Civil Rights Act. I have also worked closely with Winnie Mandela on some economic development projects, and she spoke to me of the protests that led to the end of Apartheid, and the election of her husband [Nelson Mandela] as president [of South Africa]. Those protests gave Black people a voice in their government. But here in America we already have the right to vote, and the right to participate in government. The problem is we don’t exercise that vote as we should.

JL: You’re referring to what happened in 2016.

KG: Yes. Blacks turned out in large numbers to vote for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. Yet, many of those same people didn’t show up at the polls in 2016, and that, in large part, led to an era of unprecedented voter suppression.

JL: You mentioned the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which was enacted by President Lyndon Johnson. I’ve heard that one of your favorite quotes came from LBJ.

KG: Yeah, after he signed the Voting Rights Act, Johnson said, “The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men just because they are different from other men.”

JL: That’s inspiring, but do today’s Black youth get it? Do they even have an appreciation for folks who came before them?

KG: We have to remind them, and that brings me back to my daughter. I tell her all the time about the achievements of my heroes and mentors, like Mr. Bob Brown, who single-handedly created the Minority Business Enterprise program while he served in the Nixon administration. Like Vivian Burke who helped me establish an employment assistance center when I headed up the Urban League. Like Maya Angelou who advocated for women’s health issues, and for whom I was able to have a Triad-area hospital named after. Like Sylvia Sprinkle Hamlin who I worked with to set up a scholarship program for students at the School of the Arts. And like Congressman John Lewis, who hosted a meeting between me and Deputy President Baleka Mbete of South Africa to discuss voting and civic engagement. These were all strong individuals who made a difference, and young people can make a difference too, just by voting. The power of your voice is your vote.

Last week, Forsyth Tech President Janet Spriggs and Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines appeared on Triad Today to talk about the “College Guarantee” program they created, and the “Hope and Opportunity” scholarships available through that program.

JL: Allen, what is the College Guarantee program all about, and why was it developed?

AJ: Jim, we’ve got a comprehensive effort to reduce poverty in our community, and we felt like one of the best ways to break that cycle is to help disadvantaged young people be able to go to college. And so we put together this program where any young person who graduates from high school in Forsyth County, and wants to go to Forsyth Tech, but can’t afford it, can go absolutely free – tuition, books, fees, even some money in there for transportation and child care, so Dr. Spriggs can take them for two years, turn them around, and get a great career going.

JL: Janet, what’s the criteria for students to be selected for the program?

JS: Well, the first criteria is that they graduate from a Forsyth County high school, and the next criteria is based on income. We have them fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and that tells us what their estimated family contribution will be. We then base their award on that estimated family contribution. It’s also important to note that this is a last dollar scholarship, so we use that FAFSA data to determine if there’s federal or other scholarship aid available to the student before the College Guarantee money is applied, in order to make their money go further. If we can use federal aid to cover tuition and maybe books, then we can apply the Hope and Opportunity scholarship to help them stay in school, by helping with transportation and childcare as the Mayor mentioned.

JL: How’s that been working thus far?

JS: We had almost 1,100 students that qualified this year who we reached out to and recruited. As of yesterday, we had 696 of them who registered at Forsyth Tech.

JL: How is this program being funded?

AJ: Well Janet and I sat down and figured out what it would take to run this for six years, because we didn’t want it to just be a drop in the bucket, so we came up with a number. I then went to Kelly King, the CEO with BB&T (now Truist) and made a pitch to Kelly. He’s very interested in addressing poverty, and Truist gave us a grant that covers the program for a full six year period.

JL: Janet, What role will community colleges play in bringing us out of this pandemic-related economic downturn?

JS: I think we’re going to be a critical player in that regard. We always are whenever we’ve been in a recessionary period. The community college system in North Carolina has been a driver for economic recovery, with the workforce preparedness and workforce development required to rebuild and re-stimulate the economy, and to prepare workers for the new jobs that always come out of any recessionary economic time.

JL: And Allen, this program is also going to bode well for our future economy if these kids go to college, right?

AJ: Absolutely, we estimate these kids will be making $40,000 or $50,000 a year, and if you think about the fact that we’re going to help 2,600 to 3,000 of these young people, so that’s going to have a major impact on our economy.

For more information about the “Hope and Opportunity” scholarships, visit www.ForsythTech.edu/hope.

“Kids. I don’t understand what’s wrong with these kids today.”

“Kids. You can talk and talk till your face is blue, but they still do just what they want to do.”

Those lyrics are from the 1960 Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie, but given what’s happened lately, they could have been spoken by Drs. Fauci or Birx during a recent press conference. That’s because the latest rise in COVID-19 cases is being fueled in large part by teens and young adults, and not just here in the United States. Speaking with Good Morning Britain last month, Dr. Hilary Jones said, “Outbreaks [of COVID-19] around the world are due to the actions of younger people.”

Some of those “actions” that Dr. Jones referred to include an increase in large gatherings attended by young people. In late July, for example, the upper crust town of Greenwich, Connecticut reported 19 new COVID cases following a rash of parties attended by high school and college kids. In mid-August, hundreds of freshmen at Syracuse University partied in the Quad without masks. A similar event occurred at Penn State, resulting in a suspension of the entire Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. Same thing at Purdue, University of Alabama, Oklahoma State, and many other colleges. And who can forget the party-house in Jackson Township, New Jersey where police were called in to disperse over 700 young adults who were packed in like sardines, sans masks. A similar situation arose last month in Los Angeles where a Hollywood Hills home became party central to scores of youngsters. When warnings fell on deaf ears, Mayor Eric Garcetti took drastic action, which he announced in a press release. “Despite several warnings, this house has turned into a nightclub in the hills, hosting large gathering in flagrant violation of our public health orders. The City has now disconnected utilities at this home to stop these parties that endanger our community.”

Mayor Garcetti is to be commended for thinking outside the box, but he shouldn’t have had to. Anyone over 18 is supposed to know right from wrong. They’re supposed to know not to have unprotected sex, but they do. They’re supposed to know not to engage in Tide-pod eating contests, but they do. They’re supposed to know not to drive drunk, but they do. So it should come as no surprise that a growing number of young people are gathering in large crowds without masks, and without social distancing themselves from others.  The question is, “Why do young people put themselves and others at risk?” Dr. Prabhat Jha, an epidemiologist at the University of Toronto proffers an answer. “Some experts have pointed to a feeling of invincibility about the virus (and lockdown fatigue) as reasons for their behavior.”  Dr. Jones agrees, telling Good Morning Britain, “Younger people are saying, ‘We don’t feel we’re vulnerable, so we’ll go out to socials, gatherings, pubs and restaurants, and we’re not so concerned.’”

A sense of invincibility is inherent in most youth, but President Trump didn’t help things when, early on, he claimed that COVID-19 would not affect young people. We now know differently. Last month the Centers for Disease Control announced that people in their twenties are contracting COVID-19 at higher rates than the at-risk elderly, and warned that young adults who contract the virus are experiencing long-term side effects.

Fortunately many public school superintendents and college presidents are now taking an aggressive stance to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among students. Over 65% of K-12 students in North Carolina started the semester at home, learning remotely, and, later, schools like NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill reversed their original decision to hold in-person classes. UNCG, meanwhile is going a step further, having University police strictly enforce the Governor’s orders at large gatherings even if they’re held off campus. Such warnings and enforcement among college administrators is growing all too common. “If you don’t abide by the rules, there’s no place for you here,” said Purdue Vice Provost Katie Sermersheim. And, Mike Hainey, Vice Chancellor at Syracuse University implored students, “Be better. Be adults. Think of someone other than yourself.”

Some medical professionals believe that if we would all just wear a mask and practice social distancing for three straight weeks, we could halt the spread of COVID-19. Who knows? Maybe our young people will follow that advice, but I’m not holding my breath. Although that might be a solution too.

During the opening night of the Republican convention, former UN ambassador and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley warned that America would turn socialist under a Biden/Harris administration.

Haley and a host of other speakers took their lead from Donald Trump, who has been using the dreaded “S” word to stoke fear among voters for the past four years. We all embrace and rely on some form of socialism every day of our lives, but the problem is that Trump isn’t one to let the facts get in the way of a good story.

According to Merriam-Webster, socialism is an “economic and political theory advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.”

In the broadest sense, then, we are already a socialist nation. Over 61 million Americans get their health insurance through Medicare, and 63 million of us receive Social Security benefits every month. Who pays for these life sustaining programs? We do, the collective. And who administers them? The government.

Earlier this year, every adult received a stimulus check to help offset our losses from the pandemic, while millions of small businesses received PPP funds and “loans” to help them keep their doors open. But much of that money doesn’t have to be repaid. Millions more businesses qualified for low-interest SBA loans. Who pays taxes to make these funds available? We do, the collective. And who administers them? The government.

All federal employees, from the janitors who clean the Capitol to the congressmen who work there, are paid a salary and receive pensions and healthcare coverage. Likewise, local public officials, from teachers to sheriff’s deputies, receive similar benefits on the state level. Who pays for these salaries and benefits? We do, the collective. And who administers them? The government.

We rely on police, the military and the FBI to protect us each and every day, but guess who pays for that? We, the collective. And who administers those agencies? The government.

Cities and counties create mega sites that they can develop, then offer tax incentives to industries who locate on that land. Who pays for this system of economic development? We do, the collective. And who owns the land and administers the program? The government.

Public schools, public universities, and community colleges are supported in part by foundations, fees, and tuitions, but guess who keeps them operating? We do, the collective. And who administers our funds? The government.

Teaching hospitals treat patients, train doctors, and engage in research to find new cures. To do that they rely in part on grants and federal funding. Who pays for that? We do, the collective. Who administers the money? The government.

Local coliseums and stadiums serve as venues for sports and concerts. Guess who pays for those facilities? We do, the collective. And who owns those facilities? The government.

Local recreation centers provide kids with a safe place to get exercise. Who pays for those centers? We do, the collective. And who owns those venues? The government.

When our North Carolina state parks needed an influx of cash for renovations, who passed and paid for the referendum? We did, the collective. And who owns the parks that we visit? The government.

The FDA makes sure our food and drugs are safe, and the post office makes sure our mail is delivered (usually). Who pays for that service? We do, the collective. And who administers the funds to sustain those services? The government.

Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, and every other right wing political hack can threaten us with socialism all they want, but if Joe Biden is elected on November 3^rd, he won’t bring socialism with him. It’s already here, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Sometimes newspaper headlines can be misleading, even inaccurate. Sometimes they can be confusing or taken out of context. Sometimes, though, you can glean a lot about an on-going story by simply stringing the headlines together. For example: “Biden Leads Trump by Double Digits”; “COVID Spurs Increase in Mail-in Ballots”; “Democratic Voters Requesting Ballots 2 to 1 Over GOP Voters”; “Trump Opposes Funding Post Office Because of Mail-In Voting”; “Postmaster was Major Fundraiser for Trump”; “Postmaster Cuts Overtime, Eliminates Mail Boxes”; “Greensboro’s Mail Center Flagged for Late Trips”; “USPS Warns 46 States That Some Mail-In Ballots Will Not Arrive in Time to Be Counted for November Election”; “DeJoy Says He is Not Beholden to Trump”; “Inspector General Reviewing DeJoy’s Policy Changes and Potential Ethics Conflicts”.

So there you have it. An upper crust, GOP fundraising businessman from Greensboro is picked to be Trump’s Postmaster General, and before you know it, Louis DeJoy has disrupted, defunded, and demoralized the United States Postal Service just in time to set up a contested Presidential election. Kinda makes you embarrassed to say that you’re from the Triad. Speaking of which, our image can’t seem to catch a break. First there was the bathroom bill, then ballot harvesting, then confederate monuments, then police brutality, and now one of our own flock is screwing with the mail, and allegedly tried to systematically suppress votes.

As I began writing this column, Congress was poised to deal with DeJoy and, hopefully, block some of his counter-productive reform measures, which, in addition to removing mailboxes and ending over time, include such things as removing high speed letter sorters, and mandating that mail-in ballots no longer receive priority status. Then on August 18, DeJoy backed down and announced he was suspending his hare-brained policy changes until after the November election. However, his flip flop could be a PR stunt, because there’s no guarantee that the Senate or the President will approve Pelosi’s bill to immediately infuse the USPS with extra funds. Meanwhile, the Postal Service Inspector General is looking into DeJoy’s possible ethics violations and conflicts of interest. For one thing, according to CNN, DeJoy’s company, New Breed Logistics, which had been providing supply chain services to USPS for a quarter century, was purchased by XPO Logistics in 2014, with DeJoy occupying a seat on the new Board ever since. That in itself concerns the IG.

Despite the controversies, allegations, and investigations, Mr. DeJoy seems almost tone deaf to the effect his mis-management of the Postal service has had on the delivery of mail now, and to the potential damage his so-called reforms could have had on the integrity of our electoral process this Fall. In that regard, he shares the President’s proclivity for apathetic denial.

According to a recent study by Catawba College, there have been eight times the requests for absentee ballots in North Carolina this year, than at the same time four years ago. As of August 1, a total of 200,000 people have requested ballots, 48% of who are registered Democrats, and 18% are registered Republicans. In 2016, that break-out was 37% for each party. That should tell you why Trump is panicked, and was seemingly determined to do whatever he could to impede or obstruct the tally of mail-in ballots. DeJoy may not have been the architect of Trump’s twisted strategy, but he was the project manager who carried it out.

Most of us have fond memories of our first time behind the wheel of a car, truck or tractor. My wife Pam, for example, told me that when she was a little girl, her grandfather let her drive his car up a country road to a little store. Needless to say, they did not tell her parents about the adventure. NASCAR legend Richard Petty had a similar experience, which he recounted for me during an interview on Triad Today.

“The first time I ever remember driving at all was down on my uncle’s farm. He was getting up hay one day, and had this old ’38 flatbed truck, and they was throwing hay on the back of it. And they put it in ‘granny gear’ and pulled out the throttle so it sort of crept along. And they put me up there and I was standing in the seat, just holding the wheel straight ‘till they got to the end of the row.”

I asked the King if that incident scared his momma. “Well, they didn’t tell her”, Richard laughed.

Last month, 12-year-old Riley Neal got behind the wheel of a car, but he wasn’t driving on a country road or in a hay field, and he wasn’t afraid to tell his parents. The Walkertown Middle School student was driving in a 60-lap race at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, and finished first, much to the delight of his proud father, Kevin, himself an accomplished driver in the Sportsman Division. Riley’s victory was his first in the 602 Super Limited Division, but it’s not the first time that a young person made headlines at a race track. In 2018, Jake Garcia, then only 13 years old, became the youngest driver to compete in a Late Model race when he finished in thirteenth place at Nashville’s Fairground Speedway. For many kids, these lower division races give them an opportunity to develop their driving skills until they can get their NASCAR license, the minimum age for which is 14.

One of today’s most promising drivers also started young. Thad Moffitt is the grandson of NASCAR legend Richard Petty and nephew of Kyle Petty. “Growing up at the track every weekend and being in that atmosphere makes you want to go out there and get in the car,” Thad told me. In 2017, at age 16, he did go get in a car, and today he races on the ARCA circuit, something that didn’t exist when Richard was coming along. Back then Petty learned the sport from under the hood, and spent his time working on his father Lee’s race car.

“When I was eighteen, I said, ‘Can I drive a race car?’, and he said, ‘Come back when you’re 21. You’re going to grow up a lot between now and the time you’re 21’. So I just kept working on his car, and he was winning races and championships, and then, one day, right before I turned 21 I said, ‘I’m turning 21’, and he said, ‘There’s a car over there in the corner. Get it ready to go.”

And though Richard was ready to hit the ground running, he doesn’t believe that anyone becomes an overnight success. “To be a good race car driver, it takes four or five years to see how he makes it from one year to another, and from one car to another. It takes a while.”

Many of today’s pre-teen and teenage drivers are eager to get a head start on learning their craft, and the racing world is taking notice. In a 2018 interview with NBC sports, Cathy Rice, then general manager at a track in Virginia, commented on the ability of young drivers. “Kids today mature so much so early. I’ve been in this sport for 30 years, and I’ve seen the trend in maturity in the kids. Maybe (NASCAR) will even lower the age to 12 or 13.”

NASCAR star Kyle Busch, who started driving Late Model at age 15 (until he got caught), echoed Rice’s sentiment, saying, “I don’t think it’s necessarily an age thing as much as it is an experience thing.” But Busch also told NBC that 13 is too young to race in Late Model. Meanwhile, former Cup Champion Martin Truex, Jr., had regrets about not being able to race at a young age. “For me at 13, I would say I probably could have driven a full-size car…but I wasn’t allowed to in New Jersey. I had to be 18. I lost quite a few years in racing because of that. I can’t imagine what I could have learned from the time I was 14 until I was 18.”

In fact, there are lots of things for young drivers to learn about on their road to a racing career, including how to stay safe at high speeds. But there are also some lessons to be learned away from the track. After he had just turned 16, I reminded Thad Moffitt that women love race car drivers, and I asked him if he had any girlfriends. Motioning to his famous grandfather who was seated next to him, Thad said, “He told me to stay out of that stuff until I get older.”

Sage advice from a King to his Prince.

By all accounts, COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on small businesses, especially those owned by minorities, so says Ohio congresswoman Joyce Beatty, who testified at a hearing of the Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion last month.

“Small businesses have experienced a 22% closure rate as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic from February to April, but the closure rate for minority-owned businesses is significantly higher…with 41% of Black-owned businesses closed over the same period.”

That’s why this month’s Triad Minority and Women’s Business Expo couldn’t be more timely. I asked Expo director Reginald McCaskill, President and CEO of Maximum Enterprises, how his event can help counter the trend toward closures.

“Most minority-owned businesses don’t have the revenue to market themselves like larger companies, so the opportunity for them to participate in the Expo brings them to a wider audience, and allows them to network across industries.”

This is the seventh year for the Triad Minority and Women’s Business Expo, which takes place on Saturday, August 29, from 12 noon until 4pm. But the big change from last year’s event is in the venue. As a precaution against the spread of COVID-19, this year’s Expo will be virtual, via Zoom. I wondered if that would discourage participation. Just the opposite, McCaskill told me.

“We just opened up our registration a week ago, and believe it or not, we already have 75 businesses that have registered for this virtual Expo. We’re excited about the opportunity and the platform. It’s going to be extraordinary!”

In addition to giving Triad area businesses an opportunity to showcase their products and services, the Expo also helps to nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs. That’s because proceeds from the Expo go to support the “Kids Biz Training Program”, which helps students in grades 6-12 learn how to start their own businesses.

“The Kids Biz entrepreneur program has allowed youth to get involved and get an early start. It’s a real priority for us because it allows them to develop a business mindset at a young age, and introduces them to an audience of customers they may otherwise not reach,” said McCaskill.

The Triad Minority and Women’s Business Expo is being sponsored by Truliant Federal Credit Union, a company who is involved in community activities on many levels, including awarding scholarships to students, and financial education grants to teachers. I asked Sherri Thomas, Chief Human Resources Officer, why Truliant wanted to be involved with the Expo.

“Community is very important to Truliant, so much so that it’s actually one of the core values that our employees pledge to uphold each and every day. We’re proud to be a partner of an event of this magnitude that celebrates and recognizes minority businesses, and what they do for the community, and for the services they provide.”

“Truliant has been a corporate sponsor for this Expo since its inception, and we’re really excited about their continuous partnership,” said McCaskill.

The Triad Minority and Women’s Business Expo occurs each year during Black Business Month, which gives the event particular significance.

“We view the Expo as a celebration of Minority businesses, and the exposure we give them is second to none,” said McCaskill.

For more information, or to register, visit TriadMinorityBusinessExpo.com.

Thomas Edison, Booker T. Washington, and the Wright brothers are among thousands of famous innovators who would feel right at home in North Carolina these days. So would modern-day celebrities like Taylor Swift, Venus and Serena Williams, and Olympic gymnast Simon Biles. That’s because all of them were schooled at home, or as Governor Cooper might call it, “Plan C”.

Thanks to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, Cooper recently gave local school districts a choice of three plans for offering instruction this fall. Plan A allows all students to attend class in person at the same time. Plan B would limit capacity of classrooms, and alternate days or weeks of attendance. Plan C allows for remote learning exclusively. As of last week, 39 of the 115 school districts have opted for Plan C (including Winston-Salem Forsyth, Guilford, Alamance/Burlington, Surry County, and Thomasville), which means at least 570,000 K-12 students will be attending school online next month. In most of the Plan C schools, remote learning will last for the first nine weeks of the semester, at which time, students could be allowed back into the classrooms.

The question is, will parents allow their children to return to classroom instruction once Plan C becomes Plan A? Already one third of parents in Charlotte, for example, have said they will continue online learning after nine weeks, regardless. And what about long term? Will these uncertain times encourage more parents to establish their own home school? There is reason to believe they will. According to the Asheville Citizen-Times, on July 1, there were so many parents seeking to register a home school, that they actually crashed the state portal, causing the NC Non-Public Education System website to post this message: “The system is not currently available due to an overwhelming submission of Notices of Intent.”

There is, of course, a difference between learning at home and home schooling, but lately the two teaching strategies have become inexorably linked and blurred because of COVID-19. Historically, most parents home schooled their children for religious reasons, but in 1985, the North Carolina Supreme Court validated home schooling in general, and since then, a growing number of parents have opted to teach their kids at home for secular reasons. Last year, for example, 44% of registered home schools were listed as “non-religious”. Meanwhile, home schooling overall has increased in popularity. According to the North Carolina Department of Administration, as of 2019, there were 94,863 registered home schools, teaching a total of 149,173 students. That means, even prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, home schools constituted the second largest school district in the state. Now, in light of our pandemic approach to public education, there is no reason to believe this upward trend in home school start-ups will abate.

Surprisingly, it is relatively simple to register as a home school. According to the NCDOA website, a parent need only have a high school diploma (or GED), give their school a name, and identify the ages and genders of each student being home-schooled. Attendance and immunization records must be kept, the same as with any school, and the parent (instructor) must make sure that the students take annual standardized math and reading tests.

Granted, most parents are looking forward to the day when they can safely send their children back into physical classrooms, but others may see the COVID crisis as an impetus for extending home-based instruction indefinitely. Who knows, Cooper’s Plan C and the new wave of home schooling may produce the next Booker T. Washington, and maybe he will invent a better way of teaching during a pandemic.

In the 1984 film Ghostbusters, Janine, the company receptionist, said to her geeky boss Egon Spengler, “I bet you like to read a lot,” to which Egon coldly replied, “Print is dead.” No doubt Mr. Spengler must have had some inside information or a crystal ball because private connections to the internet didn’t become widespread for six more years, and the first social media site (Six Degrees) wouldn’t launch until 1997. By 2004, however, a number of online news sites had sprung up, leading most print edition newspapers to offer their own online content. That was followed by an explosion in social media platforms that encouraged and facilitated the sharing of information, which, at first, was fairly benign. People posted vacation photos, travel tips, and endless pet tricks. Then a not-so-funny thing happened. Sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter became repositories for misinformation.

Perhaps we didn’t really need empirical research to tell us that the rise in social media “news” has triggered a decline in the fortunes of printed newspapers. Nevertheless, Penelope Muse Abernathy spelled it out for us anyway. Abernathy, a journalism professor at UNC Chapel Hill, released a report last month which showed that overall circulation of daily newspapers dropped by 44% between 2004 and 2019, and that over 2,000 newspapers shut down during that same period of time. Even worse, an additional 35 newspapers have ceased publication just since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March. Meanwhile, Abernathy says that of the 71,640 newspaper reporters and editors working in 2008, more than half had lost their jobs by 2018.

It is no surprise, then, that, according to the Pew Research Center, social media sites “have surpassed print newspapers as a news source for Americans.” And, according to Forbes, nearly 65% of internet users receive breaking news from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram, instead of traditional media. Aside from the declining number of newspapers and the jobs lost as a result, the thing that should concern us most is accuracy and accountability.

Unlike television broadcasters who are regulated by the government, and newspapers who must adhere to strict standards of journalism, or else run afoul of libel laws, social media sites get by with publishing just about anything from anyone. No fact-checking, no confirming or citing sources, and no mechanism for undoing the damage they may cause. Following the massacre of over 50 people at a Las Vegas concert, one social media site misidentified the shooter as a Democratic operative, while another reported that the gunman was working for the Russian government. If a newspaper made a mistake like that, the publisher would have to run a retraction. But in the age of Trump, it’s not only OK to post misinformation, it’s OK to re-tweet it, and re-tweet it, and re-tweet it.

Don’t get me wrong. If used responsibly, social media can bring us important information quicker than any other source, and can even save lives in times of an impending natural disaster. But when misused, social media can confuse the truth and stoke the fires of civil unrest. So what’s the solution? First we must hope that Congress will vote to regulate social media, and assign stiff penalties to those sites and their subscribers whenever their platforms are used to disseminate false information. Second, we must encourage our friends to be more selective when it comes to online news sources. Suggest that they stick to websites owned and operated by reputable newspapers. And third, if you own or manage a local business, you should place your advertising dollars with local papers instead of on social media sites. If you do, rest assure that your ads will be surrounded by factual news stories, written by responsible journalists who live and work in your community. Do these things, and you won’t need a crystal ball to tell you that print is still very much alive.

Every year around the end of June, I used to write about the dangers of fireworks, and every year, the feedback I received from friend and foe alike was almost always the same: “Come on Jim, don’t be a wet blanket. You’ve got to have fireworks on the Fourth of July!” It became obvious that my annual call for banning fireworks was falling on deaf ears (pardon the expression). In fact, the only positive feedback I ever received was from pet lovers whose dogs go into convulsions during holiday explosions. Then, last month came a ray of hope when most North Carolina localities announced they were cancelling their annual fireworks displays due to concerns over crowd control and the spread of COVID-19. But my elation was short-lived when I realized that a decrease in municipal fireworks celebrations would just mean an increase in private celebrations. Sure enough, come dusk on July 4^th, people all over the Triad started firing rockets into the sky, and not just the kind that produce pretty colors. The fireworks shot off near our neighborhood produced eardrum-bursting sounds akin to cannon fire, and take my word for it, my family didn’t feel patriotic, we just felt violated. Pardon my French, but this shit has got to stop, and not just because of loud noises.

According to a report by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, hospital emergency rooms treated over 9,000 people for fireworks related injuries in 2018. That number jumped to over 10,000 last year, and children under the age of 15 account for 36% of those injuries. Dr. Erin Miller, a hand surgeon at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, told the Associated Press that she amputated 42 fingers due to fireworks injuries last year alone. And, each year more than a dozen people are killed because of fireworks. National figures aren’t available for 2020 yet, but already reports are trickling in from select cities. In Cleveland, at least 17 people were injured from fireworks over this past Fourth of July weekend, and complaints about fireworks in that city tripled from 2019.

And then there’s the matter of fires. According to the National Fire Protection Association, fireworks are responsible for starting approximately 20,000 fires each year. Of those, nearly 2,000 are structure fires, 500 are vehicle fires, and over 17,000 are outside fires. Moreover, the NFPA estimates that fireworks-related fires cause over $105 million dollars in direct property damage. But there are other types of damage as well. For example, studies by the EPA show that chemical residue from fireworks is causing an increasing amount of environmental damage, including the pollution of lakes, ponds, and ground water. Meanwhile, Science Daily reported that children with asthma had more frequent attacks because of smoke generated from fireworks displays.

Given the number of injuries and deaths caused by fireworks, as well as damage to property, and adverse effects on health and the environment, it would seem that fireworks would be illegal, and they are…sort of. Here in North Carolina, consumers are prohibited from detonating “explosives or aerial fireworks, roman candles, and rockets or similar devices” (NC general statutes 14-410 through 14-415, and 58-82a-1 through 58-82a-55). In fact, possession of those prohibited fireworks is a Class II misdemeanor, but that’s hardly a weighty enough prosecutorial classification for the illegal use of such dangerous explosives.

Last week I spoke by phone with NC Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey who also serves as our state’s Fire Marshal. I asked him what can be done to actually deter fireworks violators. Causey explained that the only way to ensure enforcement is for the General Assembly to amend the statutes in such a way as to include stiffer criminal penalties. In the meantime, Causey and his team continue to produce educational videos and materials that warn against the dangers of fireworks. “It’s not worth the risk, especially when you mix fireworks and alcohol,” he told me. And, the Commissioner said he is ready and willing to appear before the General Assembly armed with statistics on those dangers, should a bill ever be introduced that would seek to further clarify and criminalize consumer use of deadly fireworks.

Currently, state statutes allow for municipalities to present professionally executed fireworks displays operated by vendors who must be properly credentialed and insured in order to fire off rockets and other explosives. Meanwhile, consumers are free to enjoy sparklers and party poppers in their own back yard. The question remains, is there a legislator who will step up to the plate and introduce a bill that will severely punish those who think their back yard is a launching pad for dangerous, deafening missiles? Put another way: Is there a lawmaker willing to endure the fireworks that will ensue from proposing a ban on fireworks? My dogs certainly hope so.

While serving as Chairman of the Southern Governors Association, Virginia Governor Doug Wilder asked me to produce a documentary about how he and his nineteen colleagues worked together to deal with matters of regional concern, ranging from increasing trade with Central America, to decreasing the infant mortality rate. The SGA also focused on emergency preparedness initiatives, including how to respond to, and help each other when confronted with, a natural disaster. I was struck by how transparent and cooperative these governors were, especially given that the Association’s membership represented chief executives who hailed from both political parties. Yes, they were strong-willed, principled leaders who knew how to bend the rules, but they also realized the importance of working across the aisles, including within their own states. It’s how Wilder was able to pass the nation’s first handgun legislation, and operate with an annual surplus while increasing funding for social services. If only we had the likes of Wilder and Ann Richards to help us through the COVID pandemic. Instead we have governors who continue to act unilaterally at a time when they should be seeking a consensus.

In April of this year, The National Review’s David Harsanyi highlighted examples of government overreach in eight different states. Those included: Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmire unilaterally banning garden stores from selling fruit or vegetable plants; the governors of Vermont and Indiana dictating that Walmart, Costco, and Target stop selling “non-essential” items such as clothing; The governor of Vermont banning people from purchasing seeds for their gardens; Philadelphia police dragging a passenger off of a bus because the governor mandated the wearing of face masks; Police in Brighton, Colorado arresting and handcuffing a father for playing T-ball with his daughter in an empty park because the governor ordered parks off limits; Massachusetts police arresting three men for crossing the state line to play golf; Kentucky Governor Greg Fischer’s attempt to ban drive-in church services just before Easter; and Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers invoking his emergency powers, giving him the right to do just about anything he wants during the pandemic, including seizing private property.

Unfortunately our own Governor Roy Cooper is guilty of similar abuses and inconsistencies. Cooper was supposed to have sought concurrence from our duly elected Council of State officers before proceeding with any executive orders or closures during the pandemic. But according to Speaker of the House Tim Moore, Cooper abandoned that legal precedent, “when some members of the Council of State objected to his plan.” Last week, after Cooper vetoed several bills that would have reaffirmed the role of the Council, and brought relief to shuttered businesses, Speaker Moore said, “Families and individuals are desperate for a balanced approach to recovery that protects the public’s health without permanently devastating small businesses across our state…it is clear that Governor Cooper is unwilling to prioritize struggling North Carolinians over his own power.”

Meanwhile, Cooper’s opponent in November, Lt. Governor Dan Forest, is preparing to sue the Governor for doing an end run around our Council of State, and ordering closure of some businesses while extending restrictions on others. “The Governor has repeatedly ignored the law, enacting mandates that selectively target the businesses and citizens of North Carolina without concurrence from a majority of the Council of State,” said Forest in a press release late last month.

Of course, the deck is stacked against Cooper in that regard because the ten-member Council of State comprises four Democrats and six Republicans. As Speaker Moore alluded to, Cooper knew that the Council’s Republican majority would never go along with his various Executive orders and phase-in plans, but instead of compromising, he went full-bore ahead without any checks and balances in place to stop him.

But Cooper’s abuses of power aren’t just of concern to political opponents. Groups representing churches and bowling alleys have successfully challenged the Governor in Court. And, according to WBT, more than two dozen media outlets around the state have filed suit against Cooper because he refuses to release COVID-19 related records, including a database that details the actual number of cases, and communication between various state officials and local health departments.

In March of this year, Miriam Seifter, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School, addressed the issue of gubernatorial abuses in an article for the Harvard Law Review. Dr. Seifter noted that framers of, “Early state constitutions…were concerned… because they believed colonial governors abused their power. Today a vigilant public is an important check against just making sure that these powers, which are extremely important in controlling epidemics, are exercised in a responsible and nondiscriminatory way.”

No doubt some of Governor Cooper’s orders initially helped to stem the tide of COVID cases, and prevented our hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. Nevertheless, it is incumbent upon the Governor going forward, to be more forthcoming, transparent, and cooperative in developing his ongoing strategies to battle COVID-19.

In the summer of 1977, I witnessed something I’ve never experienced before or since. I was holding court in a Century City hotel where CBS shuttled their primetime stars in and out of my suite for two straight days. I was there to tape interviews that we could broadcast back home on our local affiliate, and the network stars were there to boost ratings for their series. As the days wore on, my tech crew got so used to seeing celebrities stroll into the suite, that they would casually talk among themselves and fiddle with equipment as each actor entered.

Then it happened. Robert Wagner arrived for his appointed interview, and the room went dead silent. There was no talking, no clanging of light stands, just complete silence. All of us, men and women alike, were mesmerized by his old-style Hollywood elegance and boyish smile. On that day, R.J. was there to promote Switch, a private eye drama co-starring his friend Eddie Albert and a young Sharon Gless before she rose to stardom in Cagney & Lacey. We talked about a lot of things that day, but my memory is clouded by the passage of 43 years and the fact that I was star-struck to begin with.

What I do know is that in the years since, I came to realize that R.J.’s elegance, charm, and kindness were 100% genuine. For example, 30 years after our first meeting, R.J. rushed from the set of Two and a Half Men and grabbed a red-eye flight here to Winston-Salem to help our Humane Society raise money for a no-kill animal shelter. Thanks in part to R.J.’s celebrity draw, the shelter was eventually built, and in a very short time, we increased our save rate from 36% to over 70%.

Earlier this year, R.J. turned a youthful 90, and this summer, he celebrates his 70^th year in show business. Recently, while everyone was still sheltering at home, R.J. and I had a socially-distant phone conversation about his remarkable career, which began with a cameo as a baseball player in 1950’s The Happy Years.

JL: You were only in the movie for a few seconds, but it looked to me as though you could really play ball.

RJ: Well, I had played baseball in school, but I give credit to the editor for making me look good [laughs]. Actually, Bill Wellman gave me that break. My father knew Bill from the Bel-Air Country Club, and he said, “My son wants to be in the picture business. Is there anything you can do?” And Bill gave me that shot.

Young Wagner also made a lot of high-profile friends of his own at the Club, including Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, and Clark Gable, who helped to open doors for him. Before long, R.J. was under contract at 20^th Century Fox, where he played everything from a soldier to a prince before landing a game-changing role in 1954’s Broken Lance, a western starring Spencer Tracy.

RJ: That was my favorite picture, and it did so much for me. Mr. Tracy gave me co-star billing above the title, and that took me out of being just another guy in Hollywood. It put me in a whole different position. I didn’t realize it at the time, but Broken Lance changed my life completely.

Wagner went on to appear in over 60 films, but landed his first lead role on television in 1968 with It Takes a Thief, co-starring his friend Fred Astaire.

JL: You wrote in your book, Pieces of My Heart, that Fred once advised you to just “keep going.” What did he mean?

RJ: Just don’t let anything stop you. If you get turned down—if you get rejected, which is all the time, I mean, actors get rejected constantly—he said, “just keep your head up and keep going.”

And that’s what R.J. did after Thief was canceled. He starred in Colditz, a short-lived WWII drama, then co-starred with Eddie Albert in Switch, all the while taking on supporting roles in such films as The Towering Inferno and Midway. Then, in 1979, R.J. struck gold with Hart to Hart, which ran for five seasons and spawned eight TV movies, and a lasting friendship with Stefanie Powers. One of R.J.’s other co-stars in that series was Freeway the dog.

RJ: Most Hollywood dogs work on hand signals, but Freeway didn’t respond to that, so his trainer would be off-set while Stefanie and I were in the middle of a love scene, and all you’d hear from the trainer is, “Come on, come on, come on.” I’d be like, “Darling I love you,” then we’d hear, “come on, come on.”

JL: Was there a lot of panting during that scene?

RJ: Yeah, from me and from the dog.

JL: You’ve always been sort of the romantic lead, but was there ever a time when your good looks kept you from getting an acting job, or from being taken seriously as an actor?

RJ: Oh, I don’t know. It’s possible. But a guy wouldn’t come up to you and say, “We wouldn’t cast you in this picture because you’re a good-looking guy.” [both laugh] I mean, I never had that happen. But I’ve been very fortunate with all that.

JL: Well, you certainly had the looks to play a great James Bond. In fact, you and Cubby Broccoli talked about your becoming 007 after George Lazenby dropped out. Why didn’t you take that role?

RJ: Because I’m too American. I think I would have had to do it with an accent; besides, Roger (Moore) was a perfect choice.

JL: But if you had been James Bond, aren’t there some villainous studio heads or critics that you’d like to have put in your ejector seat?

RJ: Oh, God. [laughs] That’s a good question.

JL: You’re not going to name names, are you?

RJ: No, I don’t think so.

JL: Are there any TV or movie roles you turned down that you wish you hadn’t?

RJ: You know I was offered Westworld, and that would have been interesting, but I was doing something else at the time.

At that point in our conversation, I mentioned it was our friend Richard Benjamin who took the role in Westworld, and that prompted R.J. to comment on Dick’s participation in the recent documentary Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind, which was produced by Wagner’s daughter, Natasha.

RJ: Did you see the documentary?

JL: I did, and it was superb.

RJ: I’m so glad you reacted the way you did because what Natasha wanted to have happen out of that documentary is for people to remember her mother as she lived, not as she died.

JL: Natasha’s film was really a breath of fresh air amidst the stink of today’s tabloid media who thrive on sensationalism, but let’s face it, there have always been trash magazines that went after Hollywood celebrities.

RJ: But we weren’t free-game then. Now we’re free-game, and anybody can write anything they want to, and not source it or attribute it.

JL: You once said that your friend Cary Grant worked hard to achieve a sense of ease about his celebrity. Has it been the same for you? Or, did that sense of ease about your celebrity just come natural?

RJ: I don’t feel uneasy about it, but I feel very grateful, very grateful. I’ve been so fortunate in my career, and I really haven’t done a hell of a lot to get that. I’ve just been very, very lucky, Jim.