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INSIGHT: ERIC FRAZIER
SEGREGATION’S
LINGERING LEGACY
We’re nowhere near solving the
problem of inner-city poverty.
We’ve known this for decades.
but haven’t solved the problem.
Instead, we have asked the police
to contain it. 13A
ANDREW BURTON Getty Images
BRUCE HENDERSON The Charlotte Observer
Trey Brown, 9, helps neighbor Larry Mathis load bottled water near Duke Energy’s Allen power plant in Belmont. Don’t-drink
warnings have been issued for 83 private wells near the plant as officials try to learn whether coal ash has contaminated them.
with water as state officials
he pallet of bottled
test and retest private wells
water in Amy
that could be contaminated
Brown’s driveway
by coal ash.
hints at the new
Of the 207 results back
routines in the shadow of
through May 19, 191 wells
Duke Energy’s Allen power
exceeded state groundwater
plant.
or interim standards.
Since the state
State health authoriwarned in April
ties have advised
against drinking
their owners not to
from their well, life
drink from 166 of
in the Brown
those wells.
household has been
It will be fall
measured in the
before separate
20-ounce bottles
analyses determine
that Duke delivers
BY BRUCE
the flow of groundHENDERSON
every two weeks.
water around
bhenderson@
Three bottles fill
Duke’s 32 ash
charlotteobserver.com ponds. Those anaa pot to boil corn
on the cob. Two
lyses, combined
make macaroni and cheese.
with studies of where potenMore bottles – two for each
tially toxic metals found in
day – line up in the bathroom ash also occur naturally, will
to be used for brushing teeth. show whether the wells were
“My living room is full of
contaminated by ash.
bottled water cases,” Brown
The uncertainty was comsaid. “It’s not how you want
pounded by a flawed initial
your home to look, but it’s
round of well tests.
what I have to do.”
Many of the commercial
Duke is now supplying 140 labs that residents were alSEE WATER, 2A
North Carolina households
Protestors in Baltimore demand police
accountability and racial equality.
BELMONT
ENVIRONMENT
T
Power
plants’
neighbors
still drinking
from bottles
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
166 wells potentially unsafe, say state health authorities
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Duke is supplying 140 N.C. households with bottled water
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Duke says its ash isn’t to blame for the contaminated wells
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LOCAL NEWS
NO DIRECT LINK TO
RETALIATION
Investigation finds no direct link
between firing and staffer’s prior
criticism of the Charlotte Fire
Department. But the report notes
that there is a a significant
problem of employee distrust
toward department officials. 4A
HIKERS UNDAUNTED BY DEATH AT PINNACLE TRAIL
TOP STORIES
STAY CONNECTED
Beware: Enjoy our
parks, but watch out
NASCAR MUST NOT
SCRIMP ON SAFETY
As outdoor season kicks in, officials are reminding people that deaths from falling are rare. But they still caution people to be aware of their surroundings in hopes of
preventing another death like that of Stephanie Anderson on Saturday at Crowders Mountain State Park. Plus,
10 tips to make your hike safe.
It is inexcusable. Incomprehensible. Idiotic. But dozens of NASCAR tracks have the technology
to make their facilities safer for
their stars – the drivers – and yet
have not done so. 1B
SPORTS: SCOTT FOWLER
SCHOOLS
LOCAL
SHOPTALK
NATIONAL
CMS faces a challenge to meet a
state online testing requirement.
CMPD: Homicides, violent crimes
rise sharply in first quarter.
‘Boost post’ - Is it worth your money
to pay for extra social media reach?
Anger rises in Nepal as
disaster relief is slow to arrive.
2A
4A
7A
9A
2A
Local news
YOUR SCHOOLS
BY ANDREW DUNN
CMS faces
challenge to
meet state
requirement
FROM PAGE 1A
WATER
lowed to choose couldn’t
determine precise levels of
cancer-causing hexavalent
chromium. The contaminant prompted resampling
of dozens of wells.
Duke says its ash isn’t to
blame for the contaminated wells. The company
says boron and sulfate –
telltale indicators of ash –
have not been found at
high levels in the private
wells.
“Our approach is to
answer the needs of these
neighborhoods,” said
spokeswoman Erin Culbert. “Even though all
signs point to it not being
from the ash basins, it’s
important for us to be a
good neighbor and provide alternative water
until we have completed
these studies.”
Until then, dozens of
households will suffer a
summer of worry and
bottled water.
“It’s very hard. Very
hard,” said Sherry Gobble,
whose family lives in the
Dukeville community near
the Buck power plant in
Rowan County. Health
warnings have been issued
for 35 wells there.
A test found hexavalent
chromium in their well a
year ago. Since then, the
Gobbles have trekked to
her father’s home 25 minutes away to fetch and
bring home gallons of
water.
Duke now delivers bottled water, but Gobble
wants the company to
connect her rural home to
a water line 2 miles away.
“This is not just me and
my family. We are all in a
holding pattern,” she said
of her power-plant neighbors. “It doesn’t make the
state of North Carolina
look too good, honestly,
and it doesn’t look make
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
Unless Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools gets let off the
hook, the district could be in a
decent bit of trouble next year
with the recent North Carolina
requirement that end-of-grade
tests be given online.
This could be a bit surprising
to people used to bubbling in
Scantron sheets and scrawling
essays in blue books. But the
state has offered online EOGs
for children in grades K-8 and
end-of-course tests for high
school students for several
years.
CMS has a waiver this year,
meaning that pencil-and-paper
exams are OK. Next year,
though, unless the district can
get another waiver, they’ll
have to find a way to get computers in every student’s hands
at the end of the year.
Middle schools are in good
shape. CMS has this year
pushed Chromebooks for each
student into all of the district’s
middle schools.
Some elementary schools
are OK, too, said Valerie
Truesdale, the CMS chief of
technology, personalization
and engagement at last week’s
school board meeting. CMS
has also put Chromebooks in
many fifth-grade classrooms.
Most high schools are a long
way off.
The costs for CMS would be
steep. The highest priority
would be getting computers to
third, fourth and 10th grades,
which do not have many computers at this point. At $220
per Chromebook, and roughly
10,000 students per grade,
the cost of equipping those
grades would be roughly $6.6
million.
CMS might really end up
having to equip fifth and ninth
grades as well. That would
tack on another $4.4 million –
and the district might still
come up short.
A number of school districts
in North Carolina have protested because of the difficulty
in getting enough hardware.
But Superintendent Ann
Clark told the school board
that it’s the state Department
of Public Instruction’s “strong
expectation” that districts be
ready next year.
A significant expansion in
the number of computers
doesn’t appear to be part of
the CMS budget for next year.
While full details of the budget
haven’t been released, it was
not a priority laid out in
Clark’s budget presentation
last month. That means the
school district might be coming to Mecklenburg County in
the middle of the year for
more money.
A significant expansion in
the number of computers
doesn’t appear to be part of
the CMS budget for next year.
While full details of the budget
haven’t been released, it was
not a priority laid out in
Clark’s budget presentation
last month. That means the
school district might be coming to Mecklenburg County in
the middle of the year for
more money.
“That’s a pretty serious conversation we need to start
having,” board member Ericka
Ellis Stewart said at last week’s
school board meeting.
Dunn: 704-358-5235;
Twitter: @andrew_dunn
‘‘
‘WHO WOULD
WANT TO BUY
THIS HOUSE?
WE’RE GOING TO
BE KNOWN AS THE
ASH POND
PEOPLE.’
Amy Brown, homeowner
who lives near Allen plant
Duke look good.”
Duke has previously
agreed to extend a water
line to one community,
near Wilmington, that is
in the path of contaminated groundwater. Groundwater studies will determine whether that’s warranted near other power
plants, Culbert said.
QUESTIONS REMAIN
No neighborhoods have
been affected more than
those near Allen, which
towers over Lake Wylie.
Eighty-three of the 86
wells tested there got
don’t-drink advisories.
Amy Brown and her
husband, Eddie, say they
never would have bought
their brick ranch on a
quiet street eight years
ago if they’d had any hint
of water problems.
Now, she says, “Who
would want to buy this
house? We’re going to be
known as the ash pond
people.”
The mom of sons ages 2
and 9, Brown worries
about the well water she
once used to cook the grits
and oatmeal the boys love.
She’s halted their splashes
in the backyard pool.
Not satisfied with the
official response, Brown
took it upon herself to
knock on doors in her
neighborhood with information on getting bot-
Setting it straight
We strive to be accurate and fair and attempt to address
our mistakes promptly. Corrections from all main
Observer sections are published here. Errors on Opinion
and Viewpoint are corrected on those pages. If you see a
mistake, call 704-358-5040 or email corrections@
charlotteobserver.com.
JOHN D. SIMMONS [email protected]
Dale Beck, 68, of Belmont lives across the street from an old coal ash pond at Duke's Allen plant that has been
covered with dirt. Beck relies on well water and worries about contamination from ash seeping into groundwater.
tled water.
“I will not be silenced. I
am their voice,” she said
of her boys. “I want to
know why my water’s not
safe.”
As that question hangs,
the contaminated wells
have knit together powerplant communities in new
ways.
The bottles stacked in
Brown’s driveway didn’t
come from Duke. Niagara
Bottling in Mooresville
donated the 1,000-gallon
pallet last week. The local
Lowe’s store provided a
forklift to move the load.
On Thursday, the
Browns paid the favor
forward. Because Duke
supplies their family, the
Niagara water went to the
Heather Glen community
across Southpoint Road.
The 35 homes in that
neighborhood got letters
from their community
well service Tuesday advising them to get their
water tested. While
Heather Glen is farther
from Allen, it borders
private property on which
tons of ash were deposited
years ago.
“There was a lot of
confusing wording,” said
Dean Thomas, whose wife
has battled bladder cancer
twice since they moved to
Heather Glen. “It’s scary
because we don’t know
what we’ve been going
through the last 15 years.”
Larry Mathis, who leads
the homeowners’ association, said his wife
thought the water had an
odd taste years ago.
“Since then, we’ve been
buying bottled water and
ice,” he said. “Still, you’re
bathing in it.”
TESTING A
‘CHALLENGE’
A state law passed last
year required that private
wells within 1,000 feet of
ash ponds be tested beginning in January. In keeping with that law, letters to
residents listed several
commercial labs they
could choose from.
The Department of
Environment and Natural
Resources prepared for
tests that would look for
metals and other contaminants above state waterquality standards.
As testing began in
January, DENR says, the
Department of Health and
Human Services urged
that it include analysis of
hexavalent chromium. But
the health agency set a
low “screening” level that
most labs were not
equipped to detect.
“We recognized all
along that that was going
to be a challenge,” Duke’s
Culbert said. Duke, she
said, “would like to have a
better understanding” of
how DHHS settled on the
low screening level.
Health and Human
Services this week referred most questions to
DENR. Spokeswoman
Alexandra Lefebvre said
of hexavalent chromium
that “DHHS’ goal is to
help residents make the
most health protective
choices for their families.”
Hexavalent chromium is
usually produced by industrial processes but also
leaches from coal ash. It
may occur naturally.
The Southern Environmental Law Center,
which has sued Duke over
coal ash, says it has unsuccessfully pushed state
officials to also test wells
for radioactive elements.
The center unearthed
2009 records referring to
high levels of a radiation
indicator at the Buck power plant.
A 1998 report to Congress by the Environmental Protection Agency
characterized radioactive
elements in coal ash as a
low risk. Duke says those
elements are not significantly higher in ash than
in rocks and soil.
A second round of sampling will use only two
labs, both able to detect
low levels of hexavalent
chromium. The new round
will also expand testing to
wells within 1,500 feet of
ash ponds.
Susan Massengale of
DENR’s Division of Water
Resources said the well
tests and separate studies
on the depth and direction
of contaminants in
groundwater are “pieces
of the puzzle.”
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PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
3A
4A
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
Local news
Prayer breakfast
speakers
Billy Graham biographer will speak
Missionary Nancy Writebol, who survived the
Ebola virus, and former
Mecklenburg County
manager Harry Jones, who
is living with pancreatic
cancer, will speak Thursday at the 28th annual
YMCA Community Prayer
Breakfast. They will discuss “The Power of Prayer
in the Present.” beginning
at 7:15 a.m. at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Contact nancy.fisher@ymca
charlotte.org or 704-7166287.
— TIM FUNK
Charlotte evangelist
Leighton Ford will interview the author of a
new biography of Billy
Graham at a Thursday
event sponsored by Wake
Forest University’s Charlotte Center and School of
Divinity.
Grant Wacker, who has
taught at Duke Divinity
School, wrote “America’s
Pastor: Billy Graham and
the Shaping of a Nation.”
Interviewer Ford is brother-in-law to Graham.
A reception and book
signing will begin at 5:30
p.m. at the center, 200 N.
HANDOUT PHOTO
Evangelist Billy Graham
College St., Suite 150, and
the interview at 6 p.m.
Registration is required:
go.wfu.edu/
americaspastor.
— TIM FUNK
Beware of fake Nepal earthquake
charities
The state agency that
oversees charities warns
residents to check out
nonprofits before donating
money to help earthquake
victims in Nepal.
The N.C. Department of
State encourages people to
visit its online charities
section at www.sosnc.com
and check out groups
soliciting funds to make
sure they are legitimate.
People should be wary
of high-pressure solicitations and groups with
names that are similar to
well-established charities,
the agency said. Money
sent to bogus charities
takes away critical resources for the disaster
victims, officials said.
The Better Business
Bureau’s tips for Nepal
earthquake donations
include to be wary of
claims that 100 percent of
all donations will assist
relief victims.
Adam Bell
Traffic stop nets
drug arrest
Lincoln County authorities charged a Denver,
N.C., man after investigators found 1 1/2 pounds of
marijuana in his car and
home. Authorities stopped
a vehicle driven by Terry
Jacob Knox, 26, on Monday. They charged him
with possession with intent to manufacture, sell
and deliver marijuana,
maintaining a vehicle/
dwelling place for a controlled substance and
possession of marijuana.
Joe Marusak
Report finds
no ‘direct
evidence’ of
retaliation
. ......................................................
Charlotte crime
Statistics for January
through March*
BY STEVE HARRISON
G1
[email protected]
21% Violent crimes
An outside investigation
released Tuesday found
no “direct evidence” that
the Charlotte Fire Department retaliated against
former fire investigator
Crystal Eschert, who went
outside the chain of command to complain about
the quality of renovations
of a city building.
But Greensboro attorney Allison Van Laningham’s
60-page
report also
found
strong criticism of the
Fire Department and
Eschert
the city.
She said
many employees distrust
department officials and
said “the problem is so
significant … many believe
that any infraction or
departure from the desires
of certain members of the
command staff will result
in unfair punishment,
targeting, and retaliation.”
The report added that
“there are strongly-held
beliefs (among employees)
that dishonesty would be
used as needed to bring
about a desired result.”
Eschert was fired over
what the city said was an
offensive Facebook post
about the unrest in Ferguson, Mo. She said the
department retaliated
against her.
The concludes it was
possible the department
retaliated against Eschert
but then said evidence
“leads to the opposite
conclusion.”
In a news conference
Tuesday, fire Chief Jon
Hannan acknowledged
employee concerns about
retaliation and said he
would develop a plan to
improve the department.
He and City Manager
Ron Carlee – whose relationship has been reportedly strained during the
investigation – did not
take questions after each
read prepared statements.
The report ends one
chapter in the Eschert
controversy, though it’s
likely she will sue the city.
Eschert’s attorney, Meg
Maloney, said Tuesday in
a statement that “there is
a long history of inappropriate conduct that the
city refuses to manage.
We are prepared to do the
work necessary to expose
how the city defers and
covers for fire department
management, especially
the fire chief.”
Harrison: 704-358-5160
80% Homicides
34% Rapes
33% Aggravated assaults
3% Burglaries
-3% Robberies
4% Property crimes
*Compared with this time
last year
. ......................................................
T. ORTEGA GAINES [email protected]
“There are more guns on the street, which creates more opportunities.” said Deputy Chief Katrina Graue, who
presented 2015 first-quarter crime statistics for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department on Tuesday.
CRIME
CMPD: Homicides,
other violence up
in first quarter
. ......................................................
Homicides and other
violent crimes rose sharply
. ......................................................
in the city during the first
Rapes up 34 percent.
three months of this year,
. ......................................................
and an increase in stolen
Aggravated assaults up by guns may be partly to
33 percent.
blame, Charlotte-Meck. ......................................................
lenburg police said Tuesday.
G2
BY GAVIN OFF
Overall, violent crimes
[email protected]
in the year’s first quarter
were 21 percent higher
Homicides up 8 percent.
Moore pushes
anti-racial
profiling bill
by police officers from
BY ELY PORTILLO
G3 across the state, and he
[email protected] plans to lobby representatives to put the bill up for
Mecklenburg Democrat a hearing in the House’s
Rep. Rodney Moore
judiciary committee.
pushed Tuesday for a bill
“This situation is at a
that would
tipping point,” said
prohibit
Moore.
racial profilHe referenced the uning and
rest in Baltimore after the
mandate
death of a man in police
more train- custody, as well as racially
ing and
charged protests in Ferguoversight
son, Mo. “The same thing
Moore
for local
can happen here in our
police decities.”
partments.
Although racial profiling
Moore brought advoby law enforcement is
cates and parents of peoprohibited under federal
ple who have been killed
law, Moore said stronger
than in the same period of
2014. Nearly every category of violent crimes saw
an increase over the first
quarter of 2014.
Homicides were up by
80 percent, rapes by 34
percent, aggravated assaults by 33 percent and
burglaries by 3 percent, a
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Police Department report
protections are needed.
“It is banned at the
federal level, but it continues,” he said. “We need to
send a clear message to
our law enforcement
agencies.”
Rep. Leo Daughtry, a
Johnston Republican who
heads the judicial committee, couldn’t immediately
be reached Tuesday.
House Bill 193 would
prohibit profiling, direct
the Department of Public
Safety to keep statistics on
killings by law enforcement officers, require
more training for police
about profiling and give
citizen review boards
broader power to investigate police misconduct,
including subpoena power.
Portillo: 704-358-5041;
Twitter: @ESPortillo
shows.
Only robberies decreased, dropping 3 percent, Deputy Chief Katrina Graue said.
Graue said the increase
was not limited to one
section of town or one
issue, pointing out that of
Charlotte’s 18 homicides
this year, five were related
to domestic violence and
six to drugs.
“I think we’re struggling
across the city,” she said.
By this time last year,
there were 10 homicides
and 42 for all of 2014, the
lowest yearly total since
police began tracking
uniform crime statistics in
1977.
Rob Tufano, CMPD
spokesman, said the department could still lower
the violent crime rate by
year’s end.
“We believe that our
focus, sense of urgency
and the continued engagement from the community
will have an impact on
lowering violent crime,”
Tufano said.
Graue said controlling
aggravated assaults has
been particularly difficult.
There were 200 more
such assaults this year
compared with the same
time last year.
“This may be related to
the number of firearms
stolen,” Graue said.
Gun theft is up 30 percent, and police have
seized 375 firearms, she
said. CMPD asks that
citizens lock up their guns
and report suspicious
behavior.
Graue said calls from
residents were up 6 percent, making it CMPD’s
busiest first quarter for
receiving calls of the past
five years.
Off: 704-358-6038
Proposal would ease
N.C. gun regulations
BY ELY PORTILLO
[email protected]
RALEIGH
North Carolina’s gun
laws could be loosened
under a bill sponsored by
Rep. Jacqueline
Schaffer,
R-Charlotte, that
the state
House Judiciary ComSchaffer
mittee
passed
Tuesday.
Gun control advocates
are strongly opposed to
the bill, which they say
would endanger people by
allowing guns in more
places. An earlier version
would have removed the
state’s pistol purchase
permit requirements, but
Schaffer said that portion
of the bill has been removed.
Schaffer said the bill is
an important step to “protect Second Amendment
rights for law-abiding
citizens.”
The bill would change
some gun rules in North
Carolina, including by:
Allowing prosecutors
with a concealed carry
permit to carry guns in
courtrooms.
Specifying that shooting
ranges are only subject to
noise restrictions that
were in effect when they
opened, not restrictions
passed later.
Portillo: 704-358-5041;
Twitter: @ESPortillo
Local news
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
5A
2 die in assault,
fire on east side
nounced McClelland dead
at the scene and took
[email protected] Stovall to the hospital.
Police said the home was
fully engulfed in flames
A woman died Tuesday
when they arrived. Police
morning after a man
kicked in the front door of said they were speaking
with the daughters and
her east Charlotte home,
assaulted her and then set canvassing the neighborhood for other witnessthe house on fire,
es.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
police said.
According to police
The man also died, after records, there were four
Medic took him to Carcalls to 911 Tuesday mornolinas Medical Centering from the home, reportUniversity, police said.
ed WBTV, the Observer’s
The woman’s daughters,
news partner. Investigaages 21 and 8, were home
tors say someone called
but escaped and called
911 at 4:05 a.m. to report
911, police said.
a suspicious person,
Police identified the
WBTV said, and 14 minwoman as Tamika
utes later, there was a
McClelland, 39, and the
domestic violence call
man as Halim Stovall, also from the home.
39. McClelland and StoAccording to police,
vall were from Erie, Pa.,
there was a hang-up to 911
and they were in a relaat 7:06 a.m. and three
tionship. Police haven’t
minutes later a fourth call
said how they believe
asking firefighters for
McClelland and Stovall
help, WBTV reported.
died, but that they were
Anyone with informatreating McClelland’s
tion about what happened
death as a homicide.
is asked to call 704-432The home is in the
TIPS (8477) and speak
12100 block of Harpley
with a homicide detective
Court, off Harrisburg
or call Crime Stoppers at
Road and Interstate 485.
704-334-1600.
Charlotte firefighters
arrived shortly after 7 a.m. Staff researcher Maria
and removed the man and David and reporter Adam
Bell contributed.
the woman. Medic proBY JOE MARUSAK
ROBERT LAHSER [email protected]
Marion Locklear of Laurinburg smokes under the Little Sugar Creek Greenway bridge in September 2012.
PUBLIC POLICY
Public spaces
going smoke-free
BY DAVID PERLMUTT
[email protected]
Nearly six months after
Mecklenburg County
commissioners banned
smoking on the grounds of
government buildings and
most county parks and
greenways, the ordinances
go into effect on
Wednesday.
In recent weeks, signs
have appeared around
government buildings and
at parks reminding residents of the ban.
The initiative was championed by Mecklenburg
Health Director Marcus
Plescia. Commissioners
heard criticism from
Mecklenburg’s towns
about being overbearing,
but agreed with Plescia
that the ban will discourage smoking and improve
the health of residents.
Here’s what you need to
know:
SMOKING IS BANNED
The ban covers the
grounds of all government
buildings, including those
operated by the city of
Charlotte and the county’s
six other municipalities.
All tobacco use, including
electronic cigarettes and
chewing tobacco, is
banned at county parks
and greenways, except for
18 larger, regional parks
and six county-run golf
courses.
The county runs more
than 300 parks, so smoking is banned at 90 percent of them.
THE BAN’S HISTORY
For years, Park and
Recreation Director Jim
Garges pushed commissioners to ban smoking at
parks, but it gained traction once Plescia began
advocating for it. Commissioners also heard complaints from residents
using Little Sugar Creek
Greenway and running
into clouds of smoke from
staffers and visitors at
nearby Carolinas Medical
Center.
SMOKE-FREE AND
TOBACCO-FREE
Smoke-free is defined as
no smoking or combustible products such as
cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos or pipes. Tobacco-free
is defined as no tobacco
product use including
smoking products, smokeless tobacco (dip, snuff)
and electronic cigarettes
or vaping products.
PENALTY
Ultimately if you smoke
where it’s banned, you’ll
pay a $25 fine. But that
will likely be rare, Plescia
said. “It will take social
enforcement, where society enforces the ban,” he
said. “There will be good
signage telling people
about the ban and there
will be peer pressure not
to smoke. It’s very rare
that a police officer will
come in and fine someone.”
Perlmutt: 704-358-5061
DAVIE HINSHAW [email protected]
Tamika McClelland died in this house Tuesday morning
after a man she knew assaulted her and set a fire.
6A
Local news
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
Overdue farewell
for Garinger grad
BY DAVID PERLMUTT
[email protected]
Forty-five years later,
Jan Cook Bradley’s
thoughts return to 1969.
It’s a Sunday afternoon in
late October in the living
room of her parents’ Charlotte house. After months
of letters and audio tapes
from her brother Glenn
Cook, an Air Force pilot in
Vietnam, the correspondence has abruptly stopped
coming.
Glenn’s in a war and
he’s probably too busy to
write, her father, Frank
Cook, reasons.
As he says it, a black car
pulls into the driveway –
framed by the picture
Bill limits mailing
of some property tax refunds
JEFF SINER [email protected]
Carl Thomasson hugs Jan Bradley on Saturday at
Garinger High School in Charlotte. Bradley was in
Charlotte to remember her brother Glenn Cook.
window. An Air Force
officer and chaplain deliver a telegram: Glenn was
missing in South Vietnam.
Jan, then 21, absorbs the
blow about her 24-yearold brother, then charges
at the officer and hits his
chest with both fists
balled, shouting: “How
does the military lose my
brother?”
Frank and Eleanor Cook
died believing Glenn
would return and refused
to give him a proper goodbye.
On Sunday, Glenn Richard Cook, a graduate of
Garinger High (class of
1963) and The Citadel
(’67), will get the memorial service he never got at
Sunset Memory Gardens
in Mint Hill, where last
December the Veterans
Administration installed a
marker near his parents’
graves.
Last week, an obituary
about Glenn ran in the
Observer after 45 years.
Now they’re expecting
hundreds at his service.
Perlmutt: 704-358-5061
A bill that would let
Mecklenburg and other
counties stop mailing out
property tax refunds of
less than $15 passed a
Senate
committee
Tuesday, in
the wake of
a botched
2011 property tax
revaluation
that left the
Tarte
county with
many refunds to process.
State Sen. Jeff Tarte, a
Mecklenburg Republican,
sponsored Senate Bill 566.
He said County leaders
asked for the bill. The
county has been trying to
eliminate the mailing of
small refunds.
Tarte said there has
been a “plethora” of small
checks mailed out. “Obviously (those) cost more to
process than they’re for,”
said Tarte.
Of the more than
101,000 checks cut as of
late last year to date, 18
percent were written for
less than $2 and 36,551 for
less than $5, Mecklenburg
tax officials have said.
Under the bill:
• Local governments
could decide not to mail
out refunds for property
tax overpayments less
than $15.
• Taxpayers can collect
their refund in person if
they want.
• If they don’t collect
the refund, the amount
would accrue interest and
be applied as a credit to
future taxes.
A separate bill by Tarte
that would give Mecklenburg property owners who
owe more than $1,000 in
back property taxes from
2011 to 2014 more than
five years to pay the debt
off has passed the Senate
and is awaiting action in
the House.
Portillo: 704-358-5041;
Twitter: @ESPortillo
Group to protest
I-77 tolls project
The group Widen I-77 is
encouraging people to join
a protest on Friday against
the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s plan to build toll
lanes in the Lake Norman
area.
People will gather at
Exit 28 in Cornelius from
4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
May 1 to protest the project.
Widen I-77 sued in January to try to stop the toll
lanes, but a judge’s initial
ruling in the case allowed
the project to move forward. Widen I-77 said it
intends to continue with
the lawsuit.
— LUKAS JOHNSON
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
Business
MARKETS
s 00,000.00
7A
Dow Jones
000.00
t 0,000.00
COMMODITIES
S&P 500
00.00
X
0,000.00
Nasdaq
-00.00
s $0,000.00
Gold
$00.00
t 0,000.00
Silver
00.00
Bojangles: After IPO
comes difficult part
BY KATHERINE PERALTA
[email protected]
Charlotte-based Bojangles’ is slated to go public
on Friday at a hot time for
fast-casual restaurant
IPOs.
Bojangles’ priced its
shares at $19, according to
a securities filing Thursday, and responding to
investor demand this
week, the fast food chain
has upped the number of
shares it will sell in its
initial public offering to
7.75 million.
Since banks underwriting the IPO also have the
option to buy an additional 1.6 million shares, the
offering could raise $169
million.
Analysts say the fastfood chain, known for its
chicken and biscuits, is
drawing interest from all
kinds of investors but still
faces a number of challenges after the IPO as it
works to satisfy Wall
Street’s push for expansion.
In its IPO filing, Bojangles’ outlined an ambitious plan that includes
increasing the number of
locations by 7 to 8 percent
a year, mostly in markets
in which it’s already concentrated. The company
operates 622 stores in 10
states and the District of
Columbia, and two-thirds
of its restaurants are in the
Carolinas.
TODD SUMLIN [email protected]
Millions are riding on Bojangles biscuits.
“Investors will be receptive given the company’s
strong brand and consistent track record they’ve
had with growth,” said
Will Preston, a Renaissance Capital research
analyst.
Shares of Californiabased Habit Burger as well
as New York-based Shake
Shack both more than
doubled in their first day
of trading last year, and
analysts say it wouldn’t be
unusual to see the same
with Bojangles’. Since
2013, the average aftermarket return for restaurant stocks – the increase
Digital tech startups
showcase ventures
. ....................................................
Stock Footnotes: lf = late filing with SEC.
n = New in past 52 weeks. pf = Preferred.
rs = Stock has undergone a reverse stock
split of at least 50 percent within the past
year. rt = Right to buy security at a specified
price. s = Stock has split by at least 20
percent within the last year. Dividend
Footnotes: a - Extra dividends were paid,
but are not included. e - Amount declared or
paid in last 12 months. f - Current annual
rate, which was increased by most recent
dividend announcement. m - Current annual
rate, which was decreased by most recent
dividend announcement.
. ....................................................
Free financial data at charlotte
observer.com/business
Peralta: 704-358-5079;
Twitter: @katieperalta
[email protected]
P
CAROLINAS INC.
in the share price since the
close of the first day of
trading – is 16.6 percent,
Preston said.
Still, challenges lie
ahead. Bojangles’ hopes to
capitalize on its popularity
in the breakfast segment.
The fast-food chain generated 38 percent of its sales
before 11 a.m., or on average over $650,000 per
company-operated restaurant, in 2014, the company said in a recent
securities filing. But
competitors such as Taco
Bell are elbowing their
way into the breakfast
market. “Anytime you
draw competition, it’s a
challenge,” Preston said.
BY DEON ROBERTS
AND KATIE PERALTA
[email protected]
acatio is just one
of the growing
number of tech
startups that see
big growth opportunities
in Charlotte.
Executives of the marketing platform – which
combines mobile payments with promotions
with loyalty rewards – are
moving the company’s
headquarters from Panama to Charlotte thanks to
investment and educational opportunities here.
“The access to a mentor
in the financial services
industry is No. 1,” said
Caleb Lamb, CEO and
co-founder of Pacatio.
“They’re really starting to
spearhead the entrepreneur scene here, so we’re
excited about that.”
Pacatio (Latin for payment) was one of 10 digital startups showcasing
their business plans and
pitching to a group of
investors Wednesday at
UNC Charlotte’s uptown
campus. They were part of
Packard Place’s latest
class of QueenCity FinTech and RevTech Labs,
an intensive startup incubator and accelerator
program.
Among them were two
Charlotte-based companies: Phyrefly, a restaurant
marketing company, and
VeriFreight, which connects freight brokers with
safe motor carriers.
The 12-week program is
designed to help young
companies refine their
business models and prepare for investment. The
program’s culmination,
called Demo Day, doesn’t
pick winners and losers,
Crude Oil
$00.00
SEC said
to probe
BofA
trades
INVESTING
BY KATHERINE PERALTA
X $00.00
PHOTOS BY DAVID T. FOSTER III [email protected]
Doug Speight, founder and CEO of Cathedral Leasing in Knoxville, Tenn., makes his pitch.
but rather is “kind of like
the collection basket at
church,” said Dan Roselli,
co-founder of Packard
Place.
Instead of investing in
one specific company,
about 60 accredited venture capitalists can invest
in an index fund, which
Name
AT&T Inc
AVX Cp
AlcatelLuc
AllegTch
AmAirlines
BB&T Cp
BNC Bcp
BabckWil
BkofAm
Boeing
CampusCC
CapitalaF
Carlisle
CarolTrBk
CatoCp
Chanticleer
CocaBtl
CommScpe
CmtyOneB
Corning
Cree Inc
Close
34.86
14.08
3.97
34.68
51.19
37.96
18.79
32.70
15.65
147.51
6.49
17.62
98.61
5.42
41.20
2.56
113.95
28.59
10.39
22.07
32.60
YTD
Chg %Chg Div
+.77 +3.8 1.88
-.05
+.6 .42
+.04 +11.8
...
+.61
-.3 .72
-.68
-4.5 .40
+.36
-2.4 1.08f
-.02 +9.2 .20
+.41 +7.9 .40
+.09 -12.5 .20
-.29 +13.5 3.64
-.01 -11.2
...
+.02
-1.4 1.88a
+.46 +9.3 1.00
+.06 +7.4
...
-.16
-2.3 1.20
-.11 +48.4
...
-.06 +29.4 1.00
+.42 +25.2
...
+.18
-9.3
...
-.31
-3.8 .48f
+.28 +1.2
...
distributes capital to the
companies.
“It’s kind of a way to get
your toe in the water if
you’re interested in startup investing. For startup
investing, it’s lower risk
because you’re spreading
the risk among 10 companies that have already
Name
Culp Inc
DelhaizeFr
Domtar g s
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EnPro
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FtBcpNC
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FreshMkt
GluMobile
Hanesbds s
HatterasF
HighwdPrp
INC Rsch n
IngerRd
InglesMk h
Close Chg
26.97 +.12
22.16 -.15
43.01 -.06
78.97 +.60
67.41 +.54
24.81 +.07
21.00 +.05
79.08 -.13
19.82 +.17
17.02 +.18
252.88 +3.38
17.35 +.56
12.17 -.10
36.39 -1.53
5.11 -.31
31.32 -.50
18.36 -.20
44.97 -.14
36.58 +1.27
69.19 +.56
44.87 -1.24
YTD
%Chg Div
+24.4 .24
+22.3 .53e
+6.9 1.60f
-5.5 3.18
+7.4 .80
-19.9 .56f
+8.8 .60
-.2 1.24
-2.7 .52
-7.9 .32
... 1.20
+5.3 .52
+8.9
...
-11.7
...
+31.0
...
+12.2 .40
-.4 2.00
+1.6 1.70
+42.4
...
+9.1 1.16
+21.0 .66
been vetted,” said Rachel
Heath, a manager at
North Highland, a brand
management consulting
firm.
The types of companies
in the program ran the
gamut – from an educational platform that
streamlines the business
Name
Insteel
InvTitl
JacobsEng
KewnSc
KrispKrm
Kroger
LabCp
LendgTree
LincNat
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Lowes
MartMM
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MetLife
NewBrdgeB
NewellRub
NwstNG
Nucor
OldDomFrt
Orthofix lf
PNC
Close
21.73
72.00
44.00
16.45
19.22
69.42
123.46
61.75
57.23
70.73
71.74
136.10
1.48
50.85
8.42
39.16
48.34
49.56
74.89
36.24
91.41
Chg
-.01
-1.20
-2.66
-.08
+.09
-1.13
-2.15
+.63
+.60
-.09
-.10
+.18
-.02
+.60
+.12
-.21
+.61
+.96
+.40
+.28
+.59
YTD
%Chg
-7.8
-1.2
-1.5
-7.6
-2.6
+8.1
+14.4
+27.7
-.8
+12.4
+4.3
+23.4
-55.4
-6.0
-3.3
+2.8
-3.1
+1.0
-3.5
+20.6
+.2
Div
.12
.32
...
.48
...
.74
...
...
.80
2.64f
.92
1.60
...
1.50f
.06
.76f
1.86
1.49
...
...
2.04f
startup process for aspiring entrepreneurs to a
digital alternative to the
bulletin boards found in
cafes and gyms.
Peralta: 704-358-5079;
Twitter: @katieperalta
Name
PRA Hlth n
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Polypore
Premier
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RoyalBk g
SCANA
SPX Cp
Sapiens
ScanSource
SnydLance
SonicAut
SonocoP
SouthState
SpanAm
Close Chg
28.53 +1.26
7.02 +.13
18.50 -.14
38.40 +.68
58.64 +.10
38.06 +.15
67.86 -1.51
76.56 -.01
9.64 +.08
1.15 -.01
76.24 +.54
67.25 +.59
54.29 +.38
85.28 +1.39
8.68 +.13
41.44 +.52
31.13 +.24
23.92 +.05
44.73 +.22
69.61 +1.49
19.37 -.29
YTD
%Chg
+17.8
-4.5
+2.8
-2.6
+24.6
+13.5
-3.6
+10.7
-8.7
-14.8
+18.6
-2.6
-10.1
-.7
+17.8
+3.2
+1.9
-11.5
+2.4
+3.8
+13.8
The Securities and Exchange Commission is
investigating whether
Charlotte-based Bank of
America broke rules designed to protect client
accounts in order to generate more profits, The
Wall Street Journal
reported Tuesday.
Investigators are probing a variety of large,
complex trades and loans
that were used in a strategy that ran over a threeyear period ending in
2012, the Journal reported.
The strategy, devised by
New York-based executives in the bank’s Merrill
Lynch brokerage arm, was
intended to save on funding costs and free up billions of dollars in cash and
securities for trading, the
Journal reported.
The SEC is also investigating whether Bank of
America misled regulators
about the strategy. The
bank bought Merrill Lynch
in 2009.
“These transactions
began at Merrill Lynch
prior to the merger with
Bank of America and
received extensive review
and approval,” Merrill
Lynch spokesman Bill
Halldin told the Observer.
“The firm fully complied
with the rules designed to
safeguard client funds.”
The SEC declined to
comment.
According to the Journal, the probe is focused
on Bank of America’s
compliance with a 1972
federal rule.
Bloomberg News
contributed.
Div
...
.12
.24
1.32f
...
...
...
...
.24f
...
2.68
3.08f
2.18f
1.50
.15e
...
.64
.10
1.40f
.92f
.60a
YTD
Name
Close Chg %Chg Div
SpectraEn
37.80 +.10 +4.1 1.48
SpeedM
25.25
... +15.5 .60
Square 1
25.87 +.35 +4.7
...
SunTrst
41.15 +.52
-1.8 .96f
Synalloy
14.72 +.22 -16.4 .30f
TangerFac
33.91 -.01
-8.3 1.14f
3D Sys
26.16 +.88 -20.4
...
TW Cable 157.89 +1.52 +3.8 3.00
Timken
40.89 +.35
-4.2 1.00
Tyson
39.31 +.41
-1.9 .40
Unifi
36.98 +.07 +24.4
...
UtdTech
116.08 +.34
+.9 2.56
VF Corp
73.44 -.02
-1.9 1.28
ValeantPh 205.46 +3.44 +43.6
...
WellsFargo 55.41 +.44 +1.1 1.50f
Weyerhsr
32.18 +.02 -10.3 1.16
WldAccept 76.68 +.77
-3.5
...
Yadkin
19.94 +.22 +1.5
...
8A
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
Shoptalk
YOUR SMALL BUSINESS HELP CENTER
Community
strength is
key to small
businesses
BY JONATHAN MCFADDEN
[email protected]
I
n person, Charlotte
cheese entrepreneur
John Morgan is 6 feet
2 inches tall and
sports a brown handlebar
mustache. On Facebook,
he’s the queen – the social
media voice behind Queen
Charlotte’s Pimento
Cheese Royale, a business
he runs with his fiancée.
He adopts the identity
of her highness to regale
his audience of nearly
7,000 with news about his
products, deliveries and
cheese samplings. But
when he wants to promote
posts, Morgan pays between $25 to $100 to
“boost” his content so the
most people possible will
see what he’s offering.
Facebook has come
under fire recently from
small-business owners
who say changes to news
feeds have limited their
reach to customers. Now
business owners have to
pay if they want their
posts to appear higher in
their customers’ news
feeds. Costs range from $5
to thousands of dollars to
boost posts, according to
Andy Stone, Facebook’s
policy communications
director.
The amount of money
business owners spend
will determine how many
people see their post,
according to Facebook for
Business. Businesses can
still post to their pages for
free.
The social network says
it wants to reduce competition and clutter in users’
news feeds, and encourage business owners to
produce quality posts that
do more than ask customers for cash.
The company maintains
it’s small-business friendly
– a sentiment it’s
advertised by offering free
events showing how entrepreneurs can best use
the platform, whether they
pay for boosts or not.
PAY TO PLAY
It’s the new normal:
Facebook is “a pay to play
type of platform,” said
Charlotte social media
consultant Brandon Uttley, who heads Go For
Launch, a web company
that helps entrepreneurs
start businesses.
Compared to traditional
advertising, Facebook’s
price point is low, he said.
But if you don’t want to
pay, there are alternatives,
such as setting custom
tabs with the business
name, posting inspiration-
BY GLENN BURKINS
ShopTalk columnist
ROBERT LAHSER [email protected]
Deb Filkins, owner of the Cougar Run Winery in Concord, says her Facebook page is unique because she speaks
directly with customers, supports other businesses and posts content that has nothing to do with her shop.
‘Boost post’: Is it
worth the money?
. ..................................................................................................................
Costs can run from $25 to $100
. ..................................................................................................................
Facebook offers events with tips
. ..................................................................................................................
Local business owners entertain to reach
. ..................................................................................................................
Courtesy of Christina Chivers
Christina Chivers with her rabbit – the face of her
business, Bunny Approved.
al quotes and uploading
humorous and instructional videos.
Facebook users are “not
there to buy something
from you,” Uttley said.
“Find out what joy you’ll
give to that customer,
what pain you’ll relieve for
that customer and put
those messages out
there.”
NOT TOO WORDY
Deb Filkins’ recent
posts include funny
memes about Food Truck
Friday, a flier for a free
concert in town and a
shout-out to a new winery
in Kannapolis.
Filkins runs the Concord-based Cougar Run
Winery. She’s been
navigating Facebook’s
new rules, which include a
limit to the amount of text
that can appear within an
ad image to 20 percent.
Filkins said she spends
about $60 on average to
boost posts about events,
with hopes of reaching
about 4,000 people. But
she kept the “text rule” in
mind when promoting the
winery’s involvement with
Food Truck Friday.
“We knew that it was
going to be too wordy to
boost so we just asked
everybody to share it,” she
said. “We reached roughly
5,000 people and had 54
shares for free.”
CUSTOMER
CONVERSATIONS
The most Christina
Chivers has paid to boost a
post is about $20 around
Christmastime, when she
wanted the imported pet
rabbit products she sells
online to surge during the
holidays. But typically,
Chivers won’t boost posts
for her Concord-based
business, Bunny
Approved, which has more
than 6,300 “likes.”
She’ll still engage customers by posting a photo
of her pet rabbit, Bunny,
sleeping. She’ll then ask
customers how their rabbits like to nap, spurring a
discussion thread that
equals to more page views.
Or, she uploads pictures of
Bunny trying out new toys,
treats or furniture – posts
which can easily generate
400 “likes” from customers.
“I don’t just share links
and tell people to go buy
stuff,” she said. “I start a
conversation.”
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Free boost
for Facebook
Social media guru
Brandon Uttley tells how
business owners can
maximize their use on
Facebook without paying
to boost posts:
Use lots of graphics:
Custom graphics, such
as logos, can make a
business owner’s
Facebook page stand
out. Tools like Canva let
you create original,
Facebook-sized
graphics.
A Use buttons: Facebook
allows business owners
to add buttons to the
top of their pages that
drive users to their
websites for free.
Buttons business owners
can choose from are:
“Book Now,” “Contact
Us,” “Play Game,” “Shop
Now,” “Sign Up,” “Watch
Now” or “Use App.”
A “Like” your customers:
Search for your
customers’ pages and
“like” them if you can.
Look for chambers of
commerce, suppliers
and media that cover
your industry and “like”
those pages. Then, share
their posts or comments
– your customers will
appreciate it, Uttley said.
A
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
BUSINESS
CALENDAR
Thursday
National Association of Asian
American Professionals:
NAAAP Charlotte's professional development series
includes “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect - How
Connection is Your Key to
Success.” 6:30-8 p.m., AZN
Restaurant, 4620 Piedmont Row
Drive, Charlotte. Cost: Free for
members, $10 for non-members.
RSVP by April 27 by emailing
[email protected].
Tuesday
CPCC Seminar - Business Plan
Basics:
Turn your business ideas into
a solid plan for financing and
long-term success. This seminar
is designed to provide a good
general overview and basic
understanding of the components of a typical business plan.
5:30 p.m.7:30 p.m. at University City
Library, 301 E. W.T. Harris Blvd.,
Charlotte. Free. Register by
calling 704-330-4223.
Pitch day for app innovations:
Edison Nation, which helps
bring inventors’ ideas to market,
product development firm
Enventys and business incubator
AKT IP Ventures will host a Pitch
Day “to uncover the next great
idea for the creation of an
app-enabled device, mobile app
concept or Internet of Things
innovation.” Every participant
will be allotted 15 minutes to
privately pitch his or her idea to
a panel anchored by Louis
Foreman, CEO of Edison Nation
and Enventys, and Nicolas
Chaillan, CEO of AKT IP Ventures. Begins 10 a.m. at 520
Elliot St., Charlotte. For information and to register:
www.edison
nation.com/pitchday.
May 7
2015 Small Business Summit:
Pride Public Relations announces the 2015 Small Business
Summit, “Create, Innovate,
Dominate.” 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. at
Wake Forest University School
of Business-Charlotte Uptown
Campus, 200 N. College St. The
event’s focus is to educate new
and potential business owners
about the best practices and
provide them with resources
from Wells Fargo and other
organizations. Free. Details:
bit.ly/1JKHWyX.
May 12
Business Networking and
Target Marketing:
Business networking event
presented by Direct Point Advisors, featuring speaker Soko
Gonsan from the Business
Journal. 8 a.m.-9:30 a.m., Packard Place, 222 S. Church St.
Register at bit.ly/1aV5k16.
May 16
Leadership Conference
One-day conference at the
Mint Museum on Randolph Road
featuring national speakers is
designed to help attendees
learn from successful entrepreneurs. Speakers include Dan
Caldwell, founder and creator of
Tap Out Industries. Fee: $149.
For details and to register:
www.followtheleader
movement.com/register.
May 19
Charlotte Small Business
Month:
Join CharlotteBusinessResources.com and CPCC’s Small
Business Center for the “Staying
in the Game” networking event,
which includes a keynote and
Q&A featuring former N.C. State
and NFL stars Torry and Terrence Holt of Holt Brothers
Construction, Inc. Jacinda
Garabito, NBA Arena Host for
the Charlotte Hornets, will host.
Cost: $20. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at BB&T
Ballpark, 324 S. Mint Street,
Charlotte. Details:
charlottebusinessresources.com/
staying-in-the-game.
May 21
Opportunity Exploration:
Have you seen a product or
service and then wonder, “How
did they think of that idea?” Use
this seminar to find ways to
quickly identify unmet market
needs and to use your scanning
skills to identify and evaluate
what could be the next big
thing. Free. 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
at Central Piedmont Community
College Small Business Center,
Hall Building, Room 215, 1112
Charlottetowne Ave., Charlotte.
Details: bit.ly/1aONSLh.
It didn’t draw big headlines, but an important
business development
occurred last week: The
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Opportunity Task Force
announced the selection of
21 members who will soon
get down to work.
The task force, you may
recall, was formed after a
2014 Harvard study
ranked Charlotte dead last
out of 50 metro areas in
terms of economic mobility. In other words, people
who are born poor in Charlotte face pretty stiff odds
against ever joining the
middle class. (And a disproportionate number of
those poor people are
black and brown.)
The task force’s job is
both simple and daunting:
Identify barriers that impede economic mobility
and recommend ways to
eradicate them. Supporting
this effort are the Foundation for the Carolinas,
Mecklenburg County, the
City of Charlotte, the John
M. Belk Endowment and
the John S. and James L.
Knight Foundation.
So how does this affect
business? In lots of ways.
In 2011, the Observer
reported that Charlotte’s
non-Hispanic white population dipped below 50
percent for the first time,
to 45 percent. How strong
can our business climate
really be if the two groups
that make up a majority of
our population – African
Americans and Latinos –
are disproportionately
mired in poverty?
The question becomes,
are we willing to put aside
all that divides us – race
and class and gender – to
finally seek real solutions?
Patrick Graham, who
heads the Urban League of
Central Carolinas, said
he’s not so sure.
“I don’t believe people
fully appreciate how large
the task is or how long it
will take to fix it,” he said.
The local Urban League
has invested countless
hours in workforce and
entrepreneurial training
for people on the economic
fringes, so Graham knows
better than most how difficult the challenge will be.
Charlotte as a whole, he
said, must engage in
“some real soul searching”
to address problems that
were generations in the
making.
While I wish the task
force well, I was dismayed
to see that the list of 21 did
not include any who are
poor.When asked about
this omission, task force
leaders said they would
spend sufficient time consulting poor families.
That simply won’t cut it,
and it smacks of paternalism to think that we can
assist those left out by
omitting them from the
solutions table.
Glenn Burkins is editor and
publisher of Qcitymetro.
com, an online news site
targeting Charlotte’s
African-American
community.
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
Vermont senator
expected to
challenge Clinton
Vermont Sen. Bernie
Sanders, a self-avowed
socialist and the longestserving independent in
congressional history,
plans to announce Thursday a long-shot bid for the
Democratic presidential
nomination.
His decision would
make him the first announced challenger to the
party’s overwhelming
2016 front-runner Hillary
Rodham Clinton, but
Sanders won’t necessarily
be the last. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has been edging toward a run, and so has
former Virginia Sen. Jim
Webb.
Sanders plans to issue a
statement Thursday signaling his intent to run,
according to a campaign
adviser. A formal election
kickoff is set for the end of
May in Vermont.
Sanders is expected to
make economic issues and
the anxieties of the working class and middle class
a focal point of his campaign, if only to press
Clinton to forcefully address the issue.
— LOS ANGELES TIMES
College closing
frat accused of
abusing veterans
GAINESVILLE, FLA.
The University of Florida is closing a fraternity
after allegations that its
members hurled drunken
insults and spat at disabled military veterans at
a Panama City Beach
resort.
The school said Tuesday
that Zeta Beta Tau fraternity’s closing is effective immediately. It comes
a week after the school
suspended the fraternity,
which expelled three
members.
The school previously
said it’s charging the fraternity with obscene behavior, public intoxication,
theft, causing physical or
other harm, and damage
to property.
— ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nigeria: Nearly 300
women rescued
after abduction
MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA
Nigerian troops rescued
nearly 300 girls and women during an offensive
Tuesday against Boko
Haram militants in the
northeastern Sambisa
Forest, the military said,
but they did not include
any of the schoolgirls
kidnapped from Chibok a
year ago.
The army announced
the rescue on Twitter and
said it was screening and
interviewing the abducted
girls and women.
Troops destroyed and
cleared four militant
camps and rescued 200
abducted girls and 93
women “but they are not
the Chibok girls,” army
spokesman Col. Sani Usman said.
— ASSOCIATED PRESS
Afghan troops try
to lift Taliban
siege of Kunduz
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
The Afghan government
has rushed thousands of
troops to the northern
province of Kunduz in
recent days as a fierce
Taliban offensive has
surrounded the regional
capital, officials said.
An entire battalion of
the Afghan National Army
was reported to be surrounded by the insurgents
and the authorities
stripped troops from other
provinces to reinforce
Kunduz.
The assault on Kunduz
city, which began Friday,
is the cornerstone of the
Taliban’s spring offensive.
— NEW YORK TIMES
Nation & World
Iran seizes cargo ship
after warning shots
BY ADAM SCHRECK
AND ROBERT BURNS
Associated Press
DUBAI,
UNITED
ARAB
EMIRATES
Iranian forces fired
warning shots across the
bridge of a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel
as it was traversing the
Strait of Hormuz, boarded
the ship and directed it
toward the Iranian mainland, a Pentagon official
said Tuesday.
The incident comes as
Iran and the U.S., along
with other world powers,
try to hammer out a final
deal over Tehran’s nuclear
program.
After the cargo ship sent
a distress call, the U.S.
Navy sent the destroyer
USS Farragut and a Navy
maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft to
the area of the incident to
monitor the situation,
according to Col. Steve
Warren, a Pentagon
spokesman.
The cargo ship was
traveling through the
narrow strait, which is
technically Iranian and
Omani territorial waters,
but under international
agreement is open to foreign ships making an innocent passage, Warren
said. It wasn’t clear
whether the ship had
strayed off course into
coastal waters not protected by that agreement.
The master of the cargo
ship MV Maersk Tigris
had initially refused an
Iranian order to move
further into Iranian waters, but after the warning
shots were fired the vessel
9A
complied, Warren said.
The cargo ship was
directed to waters near
Larak Island, he said. The
island sits off the major
Iranian port of Bandar
Abbas and is one of several in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian state television
reported that only 24 crew
were onboard the vessel,
and hailed from Britain,
Bulgaria, Romania and
Myanmar. It said the ship
was seized based on a
court order due to unspecified violations. Iranian officials could not
immediately be reached
for comment.
BY CHRIS BUCKLEY AND
AUSTIN RAMZY
New York Times
KATHMANDU, NEPAL
R
esidents of Kathmandu living in
tent camps after
Nepal’s powerful
earthquake said Tuesday
that their biggest worry
was a lack of safe drinking
water, even as they endured the latest rain.
That and other claims of
slow disaster relief have
kindled growing public
frustration here with the
Nepalese government,
which has struggled to
deliver food, water, tents
and other aid across this
poor, mountainous country
of 28 million people.
Since the earthquake
struck Nepal on Saturday,
killing more than 5,000
people at the latest count,
the government has instituted disaster-response
plans, galvanized the army
and received planeloads of
aid every day from dozens
of other countries.
The government has
established 16 large camps
in Kathmandu, and many
other residents have made
do by sleeping on the
street or in open spaces
away from damaged buildings and walls.
Residents have complained that the help is not
reaching them or is arriving too slowly, and many
accuse the government of
incompetence, neglect or
even corruption.
“I don’t think the government is doing anything,” Sudesh Tulachan, a
building worker and shop
owner sheltering from the
rain under a canopy where
hundreds of displaced
Kathmandu residents
gathered, including 24 of
his relatives.
“Only this tent was provided by the government,
but for everything else, we
have had to rely on our
own labors,” he said as
relatives swayed their
heads in agreement. “You
can see how many humans
are in need.”
It is a common complaint in the tent camps
across Kathmandu, the
capital, where aftershocks
have deterred many residents from sleeping indoors and where many
older buildings have crumbled into piles of brick.
But the government
faces a conundrum in
distributing aid, one senior
military official said.
Though urban residents
can protest loudly about
their hardships, the most
pressing needs are in isolated villages in remote
valleys and mountainsides,
where the earthquake
caused devastating landslides. Prime Minister
Sushil Koirala said Tuesday that the number killed
could reach 10,000.
DANIEL BEREHULAK NEW YORK TIMES
Residents line up for water distribution Thursday in Kathmandu, Nepal. The government has instituted
disaster-response plans, mobilized the army and received planeloads of aid daily.
EARTHQUAKE
Anger rises in Nepal as
relief is slow to arrive
. ......................................................
Developments
Where things stand as of
Monday.
Scale of disaster: The
United Nations says 8
million people have been
affected by the magnitude
7.8 earthquake earthquake
in Nepal that killed more
than 5,000 people and 1.4
million people are in need
of food assistance, but the
challenge would be to
reach them.
New dangers: Helicopters
crisscrossed the mountains
above a remote district
Tuesday near the epicenter,
ferrying the injured and
delivering emergency
supplies. Officials said 250
villagers were feared
missing in a new mudslide.
No more climbing: All
climbers on the Nepal side
of Mount Everest have left
the mountain and the
climbing season is over.
Dozens of climbers were
killed or injured after an
avalanche swept across the
base camp staging area,
according to guiding
companies and individual
climbers.
FROM WIRE REPORTS
. ......................................................
“Our primary, primary,
primary goal is to rescue
the people,” said the official, Brig. Gen. Jagadish
Pokharel, a spokesman for
the Nepalese army.
Saudis claim to foil attack on
embassy, arrest 93 suspects
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced the arrest
of 93 suspects with ties to
the Islamic State group
who it says were planning
multipronged attacks on
the U.S. Embassy, security
forces and residential
compounds where foreign-
ers live.
The list of targets recalls
a wave of attacks launched
by al-Qaida inside the
kingdom from 2004 to
2007, which killed dozens
of people and threatened
the stability of one of the
world’s most important
oil-producing nations.
— ASSOCIATED PRESS
10A
Obituaries
Ex-Speaker
Hastert
indicted in
scheme
BY ANDREW HARRIS
AND RICHARD RUBIN
Bloomberg News
Former U.S. House
Speaker Dennis Hastert
has been indicted by a
federal grand jury on
charges that he evaded
currency-reporting requirements and lied to the
FBI as part of a hushmoney scheme.
Hastert, 73, withdrew
$952,000 in small increments to avoid a requirement that banks
report cash
transactions
exceeding
$10,000,
the U.S.
Justice
Department
said ThursHastert
day. The
withdrawals
were part of a plan to give
an individual who wasn’t
named $3.5 million as a
payoff to conceal “prior
misconduct,” Chicago
U.S. Attorney Zachary
Fardon said in a statement.
Hastert, a Republican
from Plano, Ill., served in
Congress from 1987 to
2007. He became the
House speaker – second in
line of succession to the
U.S. presidency – in 1999.
He wasn’t available for
comment.
Starting in July 2012,
Hastert began structuring
withdrawals in increments
of less than $10,000 to
evade currency transaction reports, prosecutors
said. Later, when questioned by agents of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, he told them
he was keeping the cash.
Divided court
of appeals
stalls Obama
DAPA policy
BY MICHAEL DOYLE
AND FRANCO ORDOÑEZ
McClatchy Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON
The Obama administration suffered another
immigration setback Tuesday, as a divided federal
appeals court declined to
lift an injunction imposed
by a Texas trial judge.
The 2-1 decision by the
5th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals means President
Barack Obama’s executive
action deferring deportation of certain immigrants
will remain stalled in court
for the foreseeable future.
It also could force officials
to make some tough legal
and political choices.
“The public interest
favors maintenance of the
injunction,” Judge Jerry
Smith stated in the appellate court’s 42-page majority opinion.
The 2012 Deferred
Action for Childhood
Arrivals program stopped
deportation proceedings
against certain immigrants
who had arrived illegally
in the U.S. before age 16.
A 2014 expansion added
more immigrants, including parents of U.S.
citizens. The actions could
shield more than 4 million
immigrants from deportation.
Critics call the program
an amnesty and say it
exceeds the president’s
authority. Supporters say it
simply exercises prosecutorial discretion and
argue that the challengers
lack the legal standing to
be in court.
In the decision issued
Tuesday, the appellate
court agreed with Texas
that the deferred action
policy known as DAPA
imposed a serious burden
on the state, and that
Texas and the other states
challenging the policy had
a substantial likelihood of
ultimately winning their
legal case.
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
Obituaries
11A
12A
Nation & World
TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP
U.S.-Japan trade
agreement runs
into obstacles
BY JIM KUHNHENN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
President Barack Obama acknowledged Friday
the challenge he faces
winning congressional
support for a major AsiaPacific trade deal that has
become a cornerstone of
his second-term agenda.
“It’s never fun passing
a trade bill in this town,”
the president said as he
and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared
their determination to
seeing the deal through.
Both Obama and Abe
face domestic pressures
on trade that have not
only created sticking
points between Japan and
the U.S., but have also
complicated Obama’s
ability to win support for
a broader 12-nation
Trans-Pacific Partnership
deal.
With Japan and the U.S.
as the largest economies
in those negotiations,
resolving their own differences could go far in
paving the way for the
more extensive trade deal.
“I know that the politics
around trade can be hard
in both our countries,”
Obama said, as Abe stood
by his side during a Rose
Garden news conference.
While Abe’s visit to the
White House was not
expected to yield a trade
breakthrough, the lack of
a final accord between the
two nonetheless stood out
given agreement in other
areas, particularly on
changes to U.S.-Japan
defense guidelines – an
area where both countries
share more common
ground. The new rules
boost Japan’s military
capability amid growing
Chinese assertiveness in
disputed areas in the East
and South China Sea
claimed by Beijing.
Referring to the trade
barriers on vehicles that
have been one of the
main sticking points in
the U.S-Japan trade talks,
Obama said: “There are
many Japanese cars in
America, I want to see
more American cars in
Japan as well.”
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
. ......................................................
The state
dinner
There was a new chef and
new china on the menu for
Tuesday’s big White House
dinner for Japan – and
chopsticks at the ready for
guests brave enough to go
there.
Guest chef Masaharu
Morimoto, of TV’s “Iron
Chef” fame, worked with
the White House culinary
team to produce a state
dinner that fuses American
and Japanese influences.
What’s that really mean?
Think Caesar salad
wrapped in acetate and
tied up with Mizuhiki paper
cord. American Wagyu
beef. And cheesecake –
made with tofu and soy
milk.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
. ......................................................
SAUL LOEB AFP/GETTY
President Barack Obama welcomes Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe on the South Lawn of the White
House. Both leaders face domestic pressures on trade.
FACEBOOK.COM/CHARLOTTEOBSERVER
TWITTER.COM/@THEOBSERVER
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CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
Explore
How Charlotte’s TV
chef built a career by
taking risks. 15A
FOOD & DINING
VIEW FROM HERE
BY ERIC FRAZIER
The
lingering
legacy of
segregation
G1
15-18A
INSIDE
NEW PLAN TO SAVE
THE WILD HORSES AT
OUTER BANKS.
PAGE 19A
BEHIND THE NEWS
During his sold-out appearance in Charlotte last week,
heralded civil rights lawyer
Bryan Stevenson pushed the
rhetorical button that should be
labeled: “Send Conservatives Up
Nearest Wall.”
He said the problems facing
inner-city African Americans –
elevated poverty, crime and
unemployment rates – represent
the lingering aftershocks of
centuries of slavery and generations of segregation.
He traced the Baltimore riots
and national tensions over police
shootings of black men back to
those twin evils of American
history. He tossed in a provocative afterthought: We agonized
over cars and buildings that
went up in flames in Freddie
Gray’s neighborhood, but we’ve
largely ignored the human suffering unfolding there for generations.
Four-page
pull-out
section
Just $7 can
feed four for
dinner. 16A
Insight
PEOPLE AND IDEAS
13A
He’s right. We’re nowhere
near solving the problem of
inner-city poverty. We’ve known
this for decades. And yet those
decades have passed without us
trying anything substantially
different to attack the problem.
We have asked the police to
contain it.
And inner-city America is
tired of being contained.
But what, some ask, does
slavery or segregation have to do
with the looters running out of
that CVS store?
I won’t try to speak for all
black people. But for me, when I
say the legacy of slavery and
segregation matter, I’m not
trying to dodge any “hard truth”
of black failure. I’m telling you a
fact.
I was born in the Bronx in
1966 because my parents went
North to escape segregation. I
was raised in South Carolina
because they came back after
legalized segregation fell, drawn
back to the Lowcountry land our
forebears worked as rice plantation slaves.
My birthplace was dictated by
segregation. The property I grew
up on was literally shaped by the
ugly legacy of slavery, as was the
broader community itself.
That’s not living in the past.
That’s living with the facts. Trying to divorce my story from all
tinge of slavery and segregation
makes no more sense than trying
to jump out of my own skin.
Those looters in Baltimore
didn’t magically appear. America isn’t some widget factory
spitting out adults, and some just
happen to emerge defective.
They have a back story, a history. Do those stories also involve
bad personal choices? Whose
story doesn’t?
For my conservative friends,
let me be clear: Looting isn’t
right. It’s not excusable. No
matter how long the odds
against you might be, you still
owe yourself the gift of your own
dignity.
The same can be said for our
society. We owe our forebears
who built this country a duty to
shield its integrity, to deepen its
dignity. As long as millions wither in the inner cities, we aren’t
meeting that burden. Stevenson
contends that we’ll never fix the
problems unless we get closer to
them.
What does it say about us
when we notice the inner city
only if it sets itself on fire?
Eric:
[email protected]
or @Ericfraz on Twitter.
N.C. 4th in subsidized
health insurance
choose the cheapest
monthly payment can be
ambushed by high out-ofpocket costs.
BY ANN DOSS HELMS
G2
[email protected]
North Carolina’s political leaders may not like
the Affordable Care Act,
but a large and growing
number of residents rely
on it for health insurance.
Only Florida, California
and Texas have more
people getting subsidized
coverage than North Carolina, according to a new
government report on
2015 enrollment.
That report shows about
515,500 North Carolinians
qualified for aid, an increase of about 190,000
over 2014.
The meaning of the data
will likely be debated as
state and federal lawmakers wrangle over the
act and the Supreme
Court weighs a challenge
to the subsidies in the
Carolinas and 35 other
states. But here are three
quick lessons from North
Carolina’s numbers:
1. DEDUCTIBLES
MATTERED.
Eighty percent of North
Carolinians who qualified
for aid could have bought
a policy that would cost
them less than $50 a
month, but half of them
chose a more costly premium. That’s significant
because people who
2. PEOPLE SHOPPED
AROUND.
Almost two-thirds of the
North Carolina residents
who re-enrolled in 2015
went online to register
their choice, as opposed to
letting their policies automatically renew. And 44
percent of those who went
online chose a new plan.
Because of plan changes
and rate increases, experts
had advised that it was
important to re-examine
2015 options. For North
Carolinians who got subsidies, $410 was the average monthly premium,
with $315 paid by the
government.
3. YOUNG PEOPLE GOT
COVERED, BUT
ENOUGH?
This year, almost
45,000 children and
156,700 young adults
(ages 18 to 34) in North
Carolina got coverage
through the marketplace.
People ages 55 to 64 made
up 23 percent of North
Carolina’s total enrollment (at 65, people qualify
for Medicare). Age matters, because insurance
companies say 2014 enrollment skewed toward
older, sicker people, pushing up rates for everyone.
ABBIE LARGESS
Drew Williams, 21, right, sits with a friend on the edge of the Pinnacle at Crowders Mountain State Park.
OUTDOORS
Enjoy state parks,
but watch your step
. ..................................................................................................................
14 deaths in 10 years at state parks
. ..................................................................................................................
Four deaths were at waterfalls
. ..................................................................................................................
Helms: 704-358-5033;
Twitter: @anndosshelms.
This article is done in
collaboration with Kaiser
Health News.
If you see a sign, there’s significant danger
. ..................................................................................................................
BY ELIZABETH LELAND
G3
[email protected]
LM OTERO AP
A laptop shows the HealthCar.Com web site.
As I hiked the Pinnacle
Trail at Crowders Mountain State Park this week,
past signs warning about
hazards ahead, I kept
thinking of how Stephanie
Anderson had traveled
this same peaceful path a
few days earlier and then,
when she reached the very
top, fell to her death.
Other hikers I talked
with along the way also
felt sobered by the news.
But they, too, were undeterred.
“I’ve been doing the
mountain every other day
for the last 12 or 13 years,”
said Charles Williams, 50,
of Kings Mountain who
hikes to stay fit. “I’m
scared of heights, so I
never get near the edge.”
Anderson, 48, of Marvin, fell 150 feet off a
sheer cliff face at the Pinnacle on Saturday as she
was posing for photographs with her husband
and one of her three
daughters. Mourners remember her as a woman
of faith, a substitute teacher and part of a close-knit
family.
Her death is among 14
from falls at state parks
over the past 10 years
(excluding suicides), according to state records.
There were two other
deaths at Crowders in
Gaston County, four at
Stone Mountain, three at
Chimney Rock, two at
South Mountains, and one
each at Hanging Rock and
Pilot Mountain.
With 15 million visitors
last year, parks officials
point out that deaths from
falling – although tragic –
are rare. But as the outdoor season kicks in, Superintendent Larry Hyde
of Crowders had this advice: “Be aware that there
are inherent dangers. Be
aware of your surroundings at all times, where
your footing is, what’s in
front of you, what’s behind you.”
And this: “Watch out for
those who can’t watch out
for themselves.”
Hyde was referring to
children. In 2008, a 2year-old boy broke free of
his mother’s hand and fell
more than 100 feet to his
death from a cliff at Chimney Rock State Park.
Four of the people who
died over the past decade
fell from waterfalls at
South Mountains and
Stone Mountain.
“At the top of the 80foot waterfall, there’s a
barricade around it and a
dozen signs saying it’s a
SEE PARKS, 14A
14A
Insight
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
FROM PAGE 13A
. ......................................................
PARKS
Safety tips
dangerous area, and still
people climb over the
barricade,” said Jonathan
Griffith, superintendent of
South Mountains State
Park. “Stay on the designated trail. Follow any
warning signs that you
see.”
I had never thought
much about the two warning signs on the Pinnacle
Trail at Crowders until
Anderson fell. The Pinnacle is the park’s highest
peak at 1,705 feet. Halfway up, and again at the
end, bright red letters
advise:
“AREA CONTAINS
HAZARDS ASSOCIATED
WITH ROCKS, STEEP
SLOPES AND CLIFFS.”
And in bold: “INJURY
OR DEATH POSSIBLE.
STAY ON MARKED
TRAIL.”
“We try to limit the
number of signs we have
to have,” said Adrian
O’Neal, chief of operations for the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation. “If we have to put a
sign up, there’s a good
reason it’s up.”
AN UPHILL CLIMB
The 2-mile Pinnacle
Trail starts off easily with
a pleasant, shady walk
along a gravel path
through the woods. This
week, white blooms of
mountain laurel peeked
out through the forest
green.
As you veer west toward
the summit, the climb
begins. The flat path gives
way to rocks and roots and
occasionally boulders. The
only way forward is to
scramble up and over.
The trail then turns
along a series of switchbacks until the last quarter
mile or so, which is a
tough uphill climb. At the
very end, you have to
scramble again over rocks,
this time nearly straight
up.
Tonya Grigg, 35, of
Hikers of trails in N.C.
state parks should
observe these guidelines.
• Stay on designated trails.
Stay away from cliff faces
and waterfalls.
• Do not hike alone. Hike
with a partner or group.
• When in high places,
remember that others may
be below; do not throw or
dislodge rocks.
• Wear proper footwear.
• Avoid steep drop-offs and
slick areas along rivers,
creeks and streams.
Boardwalks and bridges
may also be slippery when
wet.
• Should you plan a long
hike or side trip, make your
plans known to park staff.
ABBIE LARGESS
Observer reporter Elizabeth Leland hikes up to the Pinnacle at Crowders Mountain State Park.
‘‘
“At this point in time,
we are not making anyone
stay away from the
edges,” said Hyde, the
park superintendent.
I’VE BEEN DOING
THE MOUNTAIN
EVERY OTHER DAY
FOR THE LAST 12
OR 13 YEARS. I’M
SCARED OF
HEIGHTS, SO I
NEVER GET NEAR
THE EDGE.
Charles Williams
Kings Mountain resident
Kings Mountain was hiking the 4-mile round trip
to get in shape for a visit
to the Grand Canyon.
Hikers often train at
Crowders for bigger
mountains, some carrying
heavy backpacks.
“Accidents can happen,” Grigg said. “But I
hope they don’t do anything to ruin it.”
On Wednesday, the
ABBIE LARGESS
A sign warns of hazards ahead at the Pinnacle at
Crowders Mountain.
state’s chief park ranger
and safety inspector hiked
up to see whether addi-
Anderson
Ostovich
tional safety precautions
are needed. They decided
to add two signs at the
overlook with a more
explicit warning. Rather
than saying that injury or
death is possible, the signs
will say that deaths have
occurred. (Another person
died from a fall there
many years ago, O’Neal
said.)
A SCARY DROP-OFF
On a clear day, from the
Pinnacle overlook, you
can see the Blue Ridge
mountains in the distance.
Tuesday was a clear day.
To the right were the
closer South Mountains.
To the left, the lone hump
of Kings Mountain. If you
hike a few hundred yards
east along the ridge, you
can often see Charlotte’s
skyscrapers.
“It’s awesome,” said
Leanne Arias, 20, of Lincolnton, as she set out
food and water for her
black Lablab, Molly, who
made the hike, too. “It’s
crazy how far you can see
from up here.”
Much of the overlook is
ringed with rocks, but
there’s a wide V-shaped
opening where hikers
often pose for photographs. From there, the
• Be prepared for
emergencies. Bring a
cellphone and the phone
number of the park to use
during emergencies.
• Bring water for you and
your pets.
• Avoid overexertion. Heat
and wind may be tiring and
may cause dehydration.
• Wear sunscreen.
Source: N.C. State Parks
. ......................................................
drop is 150 feet. That’s
where Anderson fell,
O’Neal said.
Caitlyn Ostovich, 20,
sat far back. “I get dizzy
when I get close,” she
said. “It freaks me out.”
It freaks me out, too. I
have hiked to the Pinnacle
dozens of times and never
ventured to the very edge.
Not Garrett Hawkins,
20, who works at Ben &
Jerry’s on Fairview Road
in Charlotte. He clambered right up onto the
rock face and peered over
into the abyss.
Leland: 704-358-5074
FACEBOOK.COM/CHARLOTTEOBSERVER
TWITTER.COM/@THEOBSERVER
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CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
Explore
INSIDE
HOW YOU CAN MAKE
BUTTERSCOTCH
SCONES FROM THE
PEWTER ROSE. 17A
FOOD & DINING
BY KATHLEEN PURVIS
Readers
favor
flavor
boosts
Yes, it is true: People love
their flavor-bumpers. Those are
the little boxes, bottles and
squirters we keep around to toss
in when we need to add a little
more flavor to things.
I confessed a few of mine in a
recent column. And before my
use of Zatarain’s Concentrate
gets me booted out of the foodwriting corps, I should point out
that I have recently made my
own bitters and both red and
white wine vinegars. I’m not a
complete lost cause to the ideal
of cooking from scratch.
Still, that column did bring
out a lot of other fans of flavor
tricks:
• Speaking of bitters, one
person told me she adds Angostura bitters to potato and chicken salads. John Elliot of Charlotte said he adds them to soups
and stews. “Also, a few dashes
in ginger ale cures whatever ails
you.”
15A
• Susan Loparco adds a shot
of good-quality apple cider vinegar (“Katz is the best, by far”) to
whatever vegetables she’s sauteeing.
• LeAnn Swieczkowski loves
Vegeta, a Croatian seasoning
blend she gets at Polish or Middle Eastern stores. “I use it on
fish and meat, in soups and
stews and on roasted vegetables. The flavor is not overpowering.”
• Carol Nixon of Catawba
loves Better Than Bouillon:
“Always keep three flavors on
hand.”
• Rosa Sleigh uses Gerber’s
pureed carrots, sweet potatoes
or green beans (“with no other
added ingredients or preservatives”) to thicken stews and
pasta sauces. “With the added
benefit of adding extra veggies,
a good thing in my house with
picky eaters.”
• Linda Carmichael reminded
me of another one I keep on
hand: Cavender’s Greek
seasoning. She uses it instead of
seasoned salt.
• Ellen Frank of Indian Land
likes Kraft Roasted Red Pepper
Italian dressing. “I marinate
everything in it, all types of
meat and fish. I toss veggies
that are destined for the grill,
like thick-cut, well-drained
squash and zucchini, onions and
mushrooms.” Frank also mixes
Old Bay seasoned bread crumbs
into panko or regular bread
crumbs for coating chicken and
pork chops.
• Suzy Winters uses mirin, the
Japanese sweetened rice wine,
to add sweetness to dressings
and marinades.
• Beth Koonce is a fan of
Dorot frozen minced garlic and
ginger: “Teaspoon-sized cubes
just pop out of their package,
which is like a miniature ice
cube tray.”
Pull out &
share
• Carolyn Roy of Kannapolis is
a fan of several things from the
King Arthur Flour website,
including boiled cider, but she
really loves the cream cheese
flavoring. “Just a few drops in a
butter-cream icing gives you
that cream cheese flavor.” She
uses it on cakes.
• Betty Little loves Maggi
Seasoning in beef soup and
stews. She was overjoyed when
she found it at Ingles stores.
• Brenda Pinnell, an old friend
and co-worker who now lives in
West Virginia, voted for Worcestershire sauce. She also
noted: “Anchovies, tamarind
and vinegar add their own kind
of umami to spaghetti sauce,
soups and vinaigrette.”
• And finally, Adelaide Davis
couldn’t live without Crazy
Jane’s Mixed Up Salt. “I have
several containers in my pantry
just in case the company stops
making it.”
. ......................................................
For eight years, Troy
Gagliardo has hosted a
cooking segment on Fox
News Rising
. ......................................................
His spice company
supplies local chefs
. ......................................................
Renowned chefs praise his
new cookbook
. ......................................................
BY KATHLEEN PURVIS
[email protected]
W
hen you walk
through the
newsroom at
WCCB-TV at
6:45 a.m. on a Tuesday,
there’s only one head
visible, a lone reporter
who’s probably been chasing news since before
dawn. But the place already smells like bacon.
A few feet away, in
Studio B, Troy Gagliardo
is getting ready for his
closeup. He came in at 5
a.m. to prepare for his
weekly “Chef Troy” appearance on “Fox News
Rising.” After hauling in
two coolers and a rolling
suitcase full of food and
tools, he’s lined up camera-ready bowls of shredded cheese, cornmeal and
buttermilk and egg batter,
for Fried Green Tomato
Pimento Cheese Sandwiches. He’s browned a
skillet of his home-cured
bacon for Hoppin’ John
Risotto. His notes are
ready, hidden in a drawer
of the fake-kitchen set.
Studio manager Scott
Fulmer rushes through,
talking quickly through
timing and camera setups.
Host Derek James strolls
by, daubing makeup on
his forehead, checking on
the details of which dish
to talk about when.
When it comes to cooking on TV, “There’s no
school for this, or at least,
no school I know of. I
learned as I went along,”
Gagliardo says.
“Fake it ’til you make
it” is an old saying among
motivational speakers.
Gagliardo, 46, doesn’t
exactly fake it – he seems
to genuinely love food,
love people, love cooking.
But being quick to change
and learn has gotten him
past two failed restaurants
to a TV show and his own
company packaging seasoning mixes.
Now it’s also gotten him
a book, “Pseudo Southern:
A Playful Twist on the Art
of Southern Cooking,”
PHOTOS BY RICHARD RUDISILL Waren Publishing
Troy Gagliardo uses a combination of oven roasting and grill smoking to create the pork for his sandwich.
Charlotte’s TV chef
turns a new page
an event in Charlotte and
took a liking to Gagliardo.
And Viviani – well, when
Gagliardo sent out letters
asking people to look at
his book, he was the one
who wrote back.
Gagliardo is a guy who
knows how to take a
chance and make something of it.
“I don’t think you can
take yourself in too many
directions,” he says. “I’m
not going to miss an opportunity.”
Gagliardo has made his reputation with easy, everyday
cooking with Southern inspiration.
printed by Charlottebased Warren Publishing.
It may not be from a wellknown publisher, but it’s
got endorsements on the
back cover from N.C. chef
Vivian Howard and “Top
Chef” star Fabio Viviani.
Howard visited the set
when she was cooking at
GETTING REAL WITH
‘PSEUDO’
What does the title
“Pseudo Southern” mean?
Gagliardo says it’s his way
of acknowledging he’s not
originally from around
here. He was born in Mi-
chigan and learned to
cook from two grandmothers, one Italian and
one from Arkansas.
His cooking is everyday
and approachable, inspired by Southern flavors
with no claims of regional
purity.
“Pseudo can be anything. It’s not Sean
Brock,” he says, referring
to the Charleston chef
who focuses on heritage
recipes and heirloom ingredients. “This isn’t a
Southern cookbook, I
can’t say that.”
He does have a Charlotte-area history, though.
After his parents divorced,
his mother took her two
sons to live with her family in the small town of
Coloma, Mich. When he
was 13, his mother remarried and the family moved
to Mooresville, where he
still lives.
Gagliardo’s original
dream wasn’t cooking, it
was baseball. He played in
college and then was semi-pro in an independent
league, as a closing pitcher. He met his future wife,
Tracy, in the 10th grade.
When he was 22, they
married and he gave up
sports to support a family.
“The way this whole
cooking thing started was
when I knew baseball
wasn’t going to work out.”
He had learned a lot about
food doing chores on his
grandparents’ land back in
Michigan. But his mother
didn’t cook much, and his
connection to food had
slipped away. He realized
he wanted it back.
He started jotting food
ideas in a journal. He got
videos of TV chefs Justin
Wilson and George
Hirsch, watching them
over and over. He got a
job as a server at a restaurant chain, then worked
his way up to partner.
In 2004, he opened a
small restaurant in
SEE CHEF TROY, 18A
16A
Food & Dining
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
COOKING AT HOME
Family dinner
for just $7
BY DANIEL NEMAN
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Feeding your family a
good meal is easy. Just go
to the grocery store and
empty your wallet. But
what if your wallet is looking a little lean?
I came up with delicious, even elegant, meals
to feed a family of four for
less than $7. It isn’t difficult. It takes imagination.
Imagination, and an
inexpensive protein. There
will be no steak or lobster
for these meals. Even
ground beef and chicken
have become so expensive, they can’t be relied
on for a cheap meal.
I bought my food at a
supermarket chain that’s
known for lower prices. In
determining the price of
each meal, I took into
account only the cost of
the amount of the food
that I used and put the
rest aside for future use.
My 25.4-ounce bottle of
olive oil cost $5.99, so 2
tablespoons of oil was
about 23 cents. One ta-
blespoon of butter, at
$3.50 a pound, cost 11
cents. A dozen large eggs
cost me $2.09 (you can
find them at least 20 cents
cheaper elsewhere), so six
of them was $1.05.
All of the dishes were
good, but the one that
surprised me the most was
one I created. I call it
Sausage, Beans and Polenta. I used the cheapest
smoked turkey sausage I
could find and spinach.
Soak the beans overnight
and then make the polenta
– if you make it right,
almost like a risotto, it is
impossibly smooth and
creamy. Then you have to
chill the polenta for at
least two hours to get it
stiff enough to fry.
Trust me on this: You'll
want to pan-fry the polenta.
Then you make a nice,
garlicky sauce for the
beans, add the sausage
and spinach, and serve it
with a wedge or two of
polenta.
It is costs $5.72 for four
servings.
For a more traditionally
elegant meal, I adapted a
version of Marcella Hazan’s famous recipe for
White Clam Sauce. I cut
back on the clams, because clams aren’t cheap.
Even with the clams and
the wine (I used an inexpensive Yellowtail char-
donnay for $4.99), the tab
came in at $6.23 for a
family of four.
Cheaper, and delicious,
is a bean stew you make in
the slow cooker.
It is remarkably good,
and also good for you.
And it will only set you
back $5.11 for six servings.
I made a Spanish omelet. Despite its name, it
isn’t really an omelet, it is
more accurately a frittata.
Whatever you want to
call it, it was good. So
good, it is hard to believe
you could feed four for
just $4.27.
PHOTOS BY CRISTINA FLETES-BOUTTE TNS
...................................................................................................................
Linguine With Clam Sauce
Adapted from “Classic Italian Cooking,” by Marcella Hazan.
2 (6 1⁄2-ounce) cans chopped clams
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1
⁄4 cup diced onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1
⁄2 teaspoon dried oregano
1
⁄4 to 1⁄2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1
⁄2 cup dry white wine
1
⁄4 cup finely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
1
⁄4 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
1 1⁄2 tablespoons butter
12 ounces (3⁄4 pound) dried linguine, cooked and kept
warm
...................................................................................................................
Spanish Omelet
4 medium potatoes, peeled
1 medium yellow onion
1 green pepper, diced
6 eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Hot sauce (if desired)
Cut the peeled potatoes in half lengthwise, then cut each
half into crosswise slices about 1⁄8 inch thick (do not use a food
processor). Chop the onions into 1⁄4-inch pieces.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high
heat. Add the potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally (covering the pan with a lid will make this go quicker). After about
5 minutes, add the onions and green pepper and continue to
cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes and peppers are
tender, about 5 minutes longer. Season heavily with salt; potatoes require a lot of salt. Remove from heat.
Beat eggs lightly in a large mixing bowl. Add the potatoonion mixture and stir until well-mixed.
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to a large skillet over
medium heat and swirl to coat bottom. Add the egg-potato
mixture and cook without stirring until the egg has set around
the edges. Check, by lifting an edge, to see if the egg is beginning to brown on the bottom. When it starts to brown, place a
large plate over the top of the pan, invert the pan and plate so
that the omelet falls onto the plate, and then slide the omelet
back into the pan, browned side up.
Cook until the egg is completely set, about 1 or 2 minutes.
Cut into wedges and serve with hot sauce.
Strain clams through a fine-mesh strainer, reserving juice.
Combine oil and onions in a medium saucepan over medium heat and saute until the onions are translucent, 3 to 5
minutes. Add garlic, oregano and 1⁄4 teaspoon crushed red
pepper, and saute for 2 minutes.
Pour in the wine and bring to a boil over medium heat.
Cook until reduced by half, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the reserved
clam juice and boil until reduced by about a third, 3 to 5 minutes. Taste and add more crushed red pepper if needed.
Reduce heat to low, stir in the clams and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley and grated
Parmesan. Stir in the butter until it melts. Pour over the
cooked linguine, toss and serve.
Per serving: 610 calories; 17 g fat; 6 g saturated fat; 65 mg cholesterol;
36 g protein; 72 g carbohydrate; 4 g sugar; 2 g fiber; 243 mg sodium;
166 mg calcium.
Yield: 4 servings.
...................................................................................................................
Per serving: 332 calories; 14 g fat; 3 g saturated fat; 279 mg cholesterol;
13 g protein; 38 g carbohydrate; 5 g sugar; 3 g fiber; 116 mg sodium; 59
mg calcium.
Yield: 4 servings.
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
Sausage, Beans and Polenta
The method for basic polenta is adapted from “The Silver
Spoon.”
1 cup dried beans
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
1
⁄2 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (10 1⁄2-ounce) can chicken broth
1 cup spinach, packed (about 2 ounces), rinsed and dried
14 ounces smoked turkey sausage or another inexpensive
type
.......................................................
Slow Cooker
Bean Stew
From Stockpilingmoms.com.
6 cups chicken or vegetable
broth
1 cup dry beans, picked
over and rinsed
2 medium carrots, peeled
and finely diced
1 small onion, finely
chopped
2 stalks celery, finely diced
3 tablespoons uncooked
white rice
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1
⁄2 teaspoon salt
1
⁄8 teaspoon ground pepper
Place all ingredients in a
slow cooker. Cover and cook
on low for 6 to 8 hours.
Per serving: 148 calories; 1 g fat;
no saturated fat; no cholesterol;
9 g protein; 27 g carbohydrate; 2
g sugar; 8 g fiber; 1,143 mg sodium; 50 mg calcium.
Yield: 6 servings.
.......................................................
Cover the beans with water and let stand overnight. (You
can skip this if you use canned beans, but they will be slightly
more expensive.)
Prepare the polenta at least 3 hours before the meal, or the
night before: Add the salt to 2 cups of water and bring to a
boil. Have another pot with at least 4 cups of water boiling
nearby. Slowly sprinkle cornmeal into the salted water, stirring
constantly. Stir in a couple of tablespoons of the boiling water,
and lower the temperature to a very low simmer.
Stir frequently and add boiling water, a tablespoon or two
at a time, whenever the polenta starts to become stiff and dry.
Cook until tender, about 45 minutes to an hour. Stir in 1 tablespoon butter. Pour into a well-greased skillet or wide bowl
to a depth of 1 to 1 1⁄2 inches, and smooth the top. When cool,
cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or
overnight to allow the polenta to set.
Cook the beans according to the directions on the package.
Drain. (Skip if using canned beans.)
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and
add the onions; saute until translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour in
the chicken broth, bring to a boil, and simmer until reduced
by half.
Stir in the spinach and cook until just wilted, about 1 or 2
minutes. Add the beans and cook until warmed through.
Cut the sausage into 1-inch slices. If raw, cook according to
directions, drain, and add to the beans. If cooked, add directly
to the beans and heat until sausage is warm. Taste and add
salt if necessary. Set the bean mixture aside, and keep warm.
Slice polenta into 8 wedges. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a
large skillet. When very hot, add the polenta wedges, leaving a
little space between each. Cook wedges without stirring until
they start to brown. Flip and cook until brown on the other
side. Serve 2 wedges per serving, surrounded by sausage and
beans.
Per serving: 632 calories; 33 g fat; 11 g saturated fat; 51 mg cholesterol;
21 g protein; 64 g carbohydrate; 2 g sugar; 13 g fiber; 1384 mg sodium;
61 mg calcium.
Yield: 4 servings.
...................................................................................................................
Food & Dining
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
17A
BY JOHN BORDSEN
[email protected]
T
JENNIFER LOVER
YOU ASKED FOR IT
Stir up
memories
with
scones
BY JENNIFER LOVER
Special to The Observer
This week’s column
comes with a bit of nostalgia. I have had several
requests for recipes from
Charlotte’s iconic restaurants that have closed over
the years: cocktail sauce
from the Ranch House,
the Hot Dorsey from Anderson’s, Brunswick stew
from Old Hickory House.
Denise Mann continued
that trend when she asked
for Pewter Rose Bistro’s
butterscotch scones.
The bistro was a South
End institution for 25
years.
Are you looking for a recipe
from a Charlotte-area
restaurant? Send your
request to Jennifer Lover,
[email protected] or on
Instagram (@jenniferlover).
Please include your name,
why you like the recipe, and
the restaurant’s location.
...................................................................................................................
Pewter Rose Butterscotch Scones
1 3⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1
⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
1
⁄3 to 1⁄2 cup whole milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
1
⁄3 cup butterscotch chips
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Beat egg lightly in a measuring cup with ounce markings
and add milk to total 6 ounces.
Chop frozen butter into fine pieces, then cut butter into the
flour mixture using a fork. When the mixture resembles bread
crumbs, add the beaten egg and milk, reserving 1 tablespoon
of the liquid.
Stir gently to combine. Add butterscotch chips and stir
carefully, working the dough as little as possible.
Turn dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and fold
it a few times (about 6, the heat of your hands can melt the
butter). Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough to about 1 inch
thick. Cut into 2-inch triangles.
Transfer scones to an ungreased cookie sheet (I always line
mine with parchment paper) and brush tops with reserved
milk mixture.
Bake until lightly browned, about 10-12 minutes. Serve
warm.
Yield: 12 scones
...................................................................................................................
here are those
among us who
believe federal
dietary guidelines
should be updated to
make beer and pork sausage two of five recommended food groups. This
is neither the time nor
place for that issue to be
chewed over.
Much better might be
Saturday afternoon in
Greensboro, during Pig
Fest, where Natty
Greene’s Brewing Co. and
Neese’s Country Sausage
are teaming their product
lines for four hours of
suds, sizzle and live music
– and wrapping it up with
a Sooie Contest.
The event is for a good
cause – $5 from each $30
ticket benefits the Second
Harvest Food Bank of
Northwest North Carolina.
Guilford County is
where J.T. (“Thiede”)
Neese began selling sausage out of a truck close to
a century ago. The business remains in family
hands – the fourth generation – and has been at its
current Greensboro location since 1933. The brewery’s origins are more
recent, but also locally
rooted. In the 1990s,
Kayne Fisher and Chris
Lester bought a bar and
grill near the UNC
Greensboro campus, retitled it Old Town Draught
House, and began focusing on craft beers. They
launched Natty Greene’s
in 2004 – early in the
brewpub trend – at
Greensboro’s Elm and
McGee streets. A bottling/
kegging production brewery and Raleigh brewpub
followed.
Pig Fest will be staged
at 1918 W. Lee St., at the
production brewery –
about a mile from the
company’s original location. The event takes place
in and around The Bunker, its on-site tasting
room. Most of the year,
DEAL DIVA
ON WINE
Storage bags
are for more
than storage
Biltmore Winery
celebrates 30 years
BY TARA MCALISTER
BY CATHERINE RABB
Special to the Observer
Special to the Observer
There are endless ways
to use storage bags:
• Place your electronic
device in a plastic bag to
protect it from liquids in
the kitchen.
• Knead dough in large
resealable bag to prevent
sticky hands.
• Pour/scoop used cooking oils in bag, then seal,
toss.
• Enjoy pancakes while
camping by filling a resealable bag with dry
baking mix. When you’re
ready to cook, add water,
shake and get ready to
flip.
• Combine 1 part rubbing alcohol and 2 parts
water and freeze for a DIY
ice bag.
The Biltmore Winery
celebrates a real milestone
this month – its 30th birthday. A celebration is certainly in order. For many
North Carolina wine fans,
the Biltmore was one of
their first wine experiences.
The Biltmore Winery in
Asheville is the most visited winery in the United
States, hosting more than
a million guests each year
who visit the beautiful
grounds and try the delicious wine.
The history of the estate
is well-documented, and
there are references to
wine served by George
Vanderbilt, who founded
the estate in the 19th century. It was Vanderbilt’s
grandson, William A.V.
Cecil, though, who began
experimenting with wine
grapes in the 1970s. In
May 1985, Biltmore Winery opened its doors and
hasn’t slowed since.
Biltmore Winery’s winemaking team is Bernard
DeLille, who has been
with the winery since
1986, and Sharon Fenchak, who joined Biltmore
in 1999. These busy winemakers produce more
than 150,000 cases of
wine a year, in about 45
different styles.
As demand has increased, some grapes are
grown on the estate, some
are sourced locally in
North Carolina and some
are made with juice that
may be sourced from
California or Washington
QUICK DINNER IDEAS
• For meatloaf, mix
meat and seasonings and
then freeze. Once defrosted, just place in the pan.
• Before freezing chicken, add the marinade.
Defrost and it’s ready for
the grill.
To reuse bags, wash
with soapy water, rinse
and shut one corner of the
bag in a cabinet to air dry.
Never reuse bags that
have held raw meat.
When buying resealable
bags consider need and
price per bag. Freezer bags
are thicker and are best
when a more durable bag
is needed.
Email:
[email protected]
state. In addition to their
own viticulture team that
tends the estate’s vineyard, the team travels to
California several times a
year. They also work with
Tryon and Polk county
growers.
Running a wine program of this size is a huge
task. Currently they are
replanting vineyards that
were planted around the
time the winery began.
DeLille notes that they
will be using this opportunity to experiment with
clones, particularly for the
chardonnay vines, that
they think will add greater
flavor and complexity.
Fenchak says that with
the breadth of the portfolio, Biltmore Winery is
able to offer a wide selection that appeals to a wide
variety of preferences,
including red, rosé and
white, sweet to dry, still
and sparkling.
This year, DeLille and
Fenchak crafted a special
wine to celebrate the anniversary – a rich red blend
of petit sirah, syrah, and
zinfandel, available in
limited release at the winery.
Catherine Rabb is co-owner
of Fenwick’s and a senior
instructor at Johnson &
Wales University. Email:
[email protected].
. ......................................................
Sip of the Week
Biltmore Estate
Chardonnay, $13, widely
available at wine stores.
This is a very pretty
Chardonnay for summer,
with refreshing acidity and
fruit, with a bit of oak.
Catherine Rabb.
. ......................................................
NATTYGREENES.COM
For Pig Fest, Natty Greene’s and Neese’s Country Sausage are teaming their product
lines for four hours of suds, sizzle and live music.
DAY TRIPS
Greensboro pairs
suds and sizzle
. ..................................................................................................................
If you go
Pig Fest is worth the drive for fans of beer and sausage.
HOURS: 4-8 p.m. Saturday at the Natty Greene’s
production brewery, 1918 W. Lee St., Greensboro.
DIRECTIONS: I-85 North to Greensboro exit 120A; follow
U.S. 29 North into Greensboro; take U.S. 220/Freeman Mill
Road north; turn left onto Coliseum Boulevard. Just past
the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, turn left onto Lee
Street (turn right on Lee instead for parking).
DETAILS/TICKETS: www.nattygreenes.com.
. ..................................................................................................................
The Bunker is open Fridays only, with seven taps
of limited-release beer
available only there.
Pig Fest is four hours of
all-you-can eat pork. The
$30 admission includes
meat at four “Pig Stations” offering snout-totail products:
• The Savory station
offers pork in dessert
products, such as the deviled ham served at Natty
Greene’s brewpubs, pork
belly topped with mango
chutney – and bacon
brownies (yes; brownies
with bacon in them).
• The East vs. West BBQ
station has vinegar, tomato and/or Natty-brand
barbecue sauce for pork
shoulders and butts
cooked Saturday at Pork
Fest.
• The Ribtastic station
has St. Louis-style ribs
with dry rib, mustard and
“sticky-Q” sauces.
• Traditional N.C. is
where Neese’s brings out
a variety of its products:
C-Loaf, souse, livermush,
liver pudding and possibly
hog dip (a spicy dip that
includes its sausage; you
eat it with corn chips).
Each station will be
suggesting a beer pairing
for those 21 and older.
Samplings include Natty
Greene’s current seasonal
(Freedom America IPA),
the recent Lexington
Smoked IPA, and a limited
batch prepared for this
event – Porkshot Amber.
made from their Buckshot
Amber Ale and infused
with actual bacon.
18A
Food & Dining
FROM PAGE 15A
CHEF TROY
Mooresville, Gagliardo’s
Grill. It was a few blocks
off Main Street, before the
downtown Mooresville
area took off. After two
years, he was in debt and
had to close. He doesn’t
consider it a failure,
though, just “ahead of its
time” and too upscale for
the area.
A couple of years later,
he got a partner and
opened Gagliardo’s Grill
Express in the same location, focused more on
lunches and faster service.
It closed as well. But
then another opportunity
came along: There was
this customer who really
loved her steak ...
A STAKE WITH A STEAK
On Valentine’s Day in
2006, Fox News TV personality Beth Troutman
got taken out to dinner by
her now-husband, who
promised her that Gagliardo’s would have the best
steak she’d ever eaten.
Troutman agreed, and
asked to meet the chef.
Now living in Phoenix
where she has the TV
show “Right This Minute,” she says she took to
Gagliardo right away.
“He’s graceful and lovely and fun,” she says. “It
just worked.” She did a
segment of a travel show,
“Cruisin’ the Carolinas,”
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
on Gagliardo’s restaurant
and ended up inviting him
to come on “Fox News
Rising” to grill on air for a
tailgate feature.
“He gets it,” Troutman
says. A lot of chefs have
trouble with that – it’s
hard to cook in sound
bites. He’s funny and
quick-witted.”
By the time his second
restaurant closed, Gagliardo had become a regular
on WCCB, appearing
every Tuesday for “Troy’s
Everyday Eats.”
“I’m just me,” he says.
“Once I figured that out, it
got easier. Talking about
food seems natural.”
He admits he misses the
adrenaline rush of nightly
restaurant work. And yes,
he sometimes feels a little
out of step with restaurant
chefs who are “in the
trenches.”
But he says that comes
from him, not from the
local chefs he knows
through the Piedmont
Culinary Guild. His spice
company, Motown Spice
Provisions, packages customized blends that are
used at places such as
Cabo Fish Taco and Bank
of America Stadium, giving him a reason to visit
restaurants every week
and keep in touch with
other local chefs. (His own
spice blends, Chef Troy’s,
are sold online, at
cheftroy.net, and at Fresh
Market).
Switching to TV,
though, let him be home
with his family, a problem
for many chefs with restaurant hours. The Gagliardos have two daughters, Isabella, 17, and Ally,
20, a freshman at East
Carolina University.
These days, though, he
has more time to focus on
the family. As a one-man
production company, he
spreads the work through
the week: On Wednesday,
he comes up with a theme
and a couple of recipe
ideas.
By Friday, he’s ready to
work it out on paper.
On Saturday, he shops
and tests the recipe.
On Sunday, he preps his
ingredients and gets
everything ready. On
Monday, he packs the
coolers and his tools.
On Tuesday, he’s up at
3:30 a.m. and on the way
to the studio by 5.
Even with his spice
company to run, he’s
home by 7 every night to
cook dinner for his family.
“Looking back, I know I
made the right choice.”
..............................................................................................................
Pro Pork for the Home Cook
From “Pseudo Southern.” In the book, Gagliardo’s barbecue
is part of a larger sandwich recipe with slaw, sauce and
onion rings.
8 to 10 pounds pork butt with fat cap, bone-in or boneless
Chef Troy’s Back Rub, to coat, or your favorite barbecue
dry rub
4 cups hickory wood chips, soaked at least 1 hour
Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Pat pork dry and completely coat with rub. Place in a roasting pan fitted with a
rack and cover with aluminum foil.
Roast until tender, 8 to 10 hours. Preheat grill or smoker
for indirect, low heat, about 225 degrees.
Remove foil, remove rack with pork and place on the
grill, away from the coals or gas jets. Add wet wood chips to
the coals and smoke for 1 1⁄2 to 2 hours. Remove rack with
pork and place pork in a large bowl. Pull apart into chunks.
Drizzle with a little sauce, season lightly with dry rub or
Back Rub and serve.
Yield: About 8 servings.
..............................................................................................................
BEER HERE
DANIEL HARTIS Special to the Observer
Sugar Creek Brewing Co. will soon release bottles of its
Bière de Garde, a beer once brewed by French farmers.
Brewery takes its
beer to the max
BY DANIEL HARTIS
Correspondent
Though they just
opened Sugar Creek Brewing Co. last year, Todd
Franklin and Joe Vogelbacher have homebrewed
together for the past decade. When they weren’t
brewing, the two were
working nights as nuclear
engineers at Newport
News Shipbuilding in
Newport News, Va.
And though they have
brewed a variety of styles
over the years, one in
particular holds a special
place in their hearts.
Dubbed “Nuclear Kraken,” the beer is a massive, 20 percent ABV beer
that the two brewed when
Vogelbacher found out his
wife was first pregnant.
“We originally brewed it
to celebrate a new addition to the family,” Vogelbacher said. “So as soon
as you find out your wife’s
pregnant you brew the
beer, and then nine
months later when the
baby comes you have
something to celebrate
with. It’s like a cigar.”
Vogelbacher and Franklin, along with co-owner
Eric Flanigan, had reason
enough to brew the beer
again – the brewery, which
opened last October in
Charlotte’s lower South
End, is their baby. They
brewed the beer on their
pilot system but had to
dial it back a bit since
North Carolina’s ABV cap
is 15 percent.
The beer is a departure
from the Belgian styles
Sugar Creek Brewing
normally brews. To reach
15 percent, Vogelbacher
and Franklin took fresh
wort – the sugary liquid
left after the grains are
steeped in hot water – and
added it back into the beer
every eight hours for 14
days to prolong the fermentation and ensure the
yeast had plenty of sugar
for its climb to 15 percent.
As for the yeast itself,
they used three varieties: a
Belgian yeast to start,
followed by an American
ale yeast to dry it out, and
then finally a proprietary,
high-gravity yeast that
brings it to its final gravity. The beer was then
aged in small oak barrels
that once held sorghum
whiskey from Tennessee.
Insight
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
GERRY BROOME AP
The descendants of colonial Spanish mustangs live on the Outer Banks.
N.C. OUTER BANKS
Can wild horses
be saved?
BY SEAN COCKERHAM
McClatchy Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON
As the summer tourist
season approaches on
North Carolina’s Outer
Banks, there’s a growing
hope among horse advocates that the iconic
wild horses of Corolla can
be saved from a fate of
inbreeding and deformities.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which considers the horses “nuisance
animals” that compete
with federally protected
birds for habitat, has loosened its stance and is
allowing the introduction
of new horses into the
threatened herd in order
to bring in fresh genes.
“It’s almost too good to
be true,” said Karen
McCalpin, executive director of the Corolla Wild
Horse Fund, which protects the Spanish mustangs.
The horses have survived on a narrow barrier
island in the northern
edge of North Carolina’s
Outer Banks for some 500
years, believed to be descendants of colonial
mounts that swam to
shore after Spanish galleons ran aground on the
shoals and sandbars of the
Outer Banks.
They are some of the
last remaining wild horses
in the Eastern United
States and a hugely popular tourist attraction. But
the herd of about 100
horses has become severely inbred and is down
to a single maternal line,
resulting in deformities
and fears of extinction.
Rep. Walter Jones, RN.C., repeatedly pushed a
bill to allow the herd to
grow to 130 horses and to
let the Corolla Wild Horse
Fund bring in horses from
a different island at the far
southern tip of the Outer
Banks in order to infuse
fresh genes into the herd.
But the Fish and Wildlife
Service successfully opposed the bill – some of
the horses cross into the
Currituck National Wildlife Refuge, and the Fish
and Wildlife Service considers them a problem.
Under pressure from
horse advocates and
members of Congress,
though, the Fish and Wildlife Service is now letting
outside horses join the
Corolla herd under a new
management plan for the
horses.
“We aren’t objecting to
the new horses for genetic
diversity, and we are part
of the new management
plan for the Corolla herd,”
said Fish and Wildlife
Service spokesman Tom
MacKenzie.
The Corolla Wild Horse
Fund has taken advantage
of the green light by
quickly adding a fouryear-old stallion, Gus,
bringing him to join the
herd from Cedar Island,
some 100 miles to the
south.
“I DNA tested him first
to make sure that he was
indeed a colonial Spanish
mustang . . . so that is the
first introduction of new
colonial Spanish banker
strain genes into the herd
in five centuries,” McCalpin said.
19A
20A
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
Opinion
OUR VIEW
The Observer editorial board
It goes without saying, or it
should, that the rioting in Baltimore is inexcusable. It is also
unsurprising, and it presents an
opportunity for America to
pause and consider what’s driving the outburst and what to do
about it.
Nothing justifies the eruption
Monday in response to the
death of 25-year-old Freddie
Gray in police custody. Offenders set more than 150 fires,
looted stores and injured 20
police officers. Such behavior is
tragic, and undercuts the message peaceful protesters delivered previously.
Gray’s family, to its credit,
called for calm, and President
Obama on Tuesday rebuked the
instigators as “criminals and
thugs.”
Though the method is inappropriate, the anger behind it is
not only understandable but
morally demanded by the facts
on the ground.
African-Americans lack trust
The drivers behind
Baltimore’s pain
in the police department in
many U.S. cities – and for good
reason in some places. In case
after case, questionable actions
by officers have led to tragic
results.
And so we see Jonathan Ferrell in Charlotte, Michael Brown
in Ferguson, Eric Garner in
Staten Island, Tamir Rice in
Cleveland and Walter Scott in
North Charleston. All were
unarmed black men (or boys, in
Tamir’s case), killed by white
police officers. Now Freddie
Gray is dead.
Baltimore has not released
details about how Gray’s spinal
column was broken while in
police custody. That’s part of
the problem. The lack of any
MATT ROURKE AP
Sisters Jerrie Mckenny, left, and
Tia Sexton embrace as people
sing Amazing Grace in Baltimore.
explanation, let alone charges,
creates a vacuum that the rioters are filling.
The Baltimore Sun reported
that the city has lost or settled
more than 100 cases related to
police brutality just from 2011 to
2014. The city paid out $5.7
million in settlements and spent
an additional $5.8 million on
outside law firms during that
time. The toll on public trust in
the police department cannot be
measured in dollars.
An even broader problem
driving the unrest in Baltimore,
Ferguson and elsewhere is the
sense of hopelessness among
too many poor, young AfricanAmericans today. Some are
raised in an environment with
substandard education, no positive role models and no economic opportunities. Despairing
of any real shot at a better life,
they rage following a spark like
Freddie Gray or Michael Brown.
With no ladder out of their pit,
they calculate: What do I have
to lose? It all feeds a complex
cycle that has been building for
decades and is difficult to shortcircuit. It will require police
departments working to improve their relationships with
their communities, as Charlotte
has begun to do. But it will take
much more than that.
A 17-year-old named Dewayne Fowler stood before 500
people at Charlotte’s Westin
Hotel on Tuesday.
The crowd had just heard how
he grew from a rage-filled 11year-old to a determined high
school graduate thanks to the
work of Thompson Child &
Family Focus. He gave most of
the credit to Cedric Coit, a
Thompson worker who believed
in him for years.
We need a lot more Cedric
Coits. Without him, Dewayne
Fowler might have been on the
streets of Baltimore instead of
on a Charlotte stage.
U.S. OPINIONS: CALIFORNIA
Watching Waste
2.0 and beyond
From an April 24 editorial in the Orange County
(Calif.) Register:
We were saddened to
see the consummate government watchdog Tom
Coburn, R-Okla., resign
his Senate seat in December due to a recurrence of
prostate cancer. Coburn
was famed for his annual
Wastebook report, the
final version of which, in
2014, contained 100 examples of government
waste totaling $25 billion.
But perhaps Congress
has found someone to take
up Coburn’s watchdog
mantle. This month, freshman Republican Rep.
Steve Russell, also from
Oklahoma, released his
first “Waste Watch” report. It offers 10 examples
of government waste totaling more than $117 million.
Examples include the
nearly $700,000 spent by
the National Science
Foundation to help amateur moviemakers produce
“cinematic movies created
by manipulating avatars in
3-D computer game
worlds.”
A number of militaryrelated items made the
list, which should remind
members of Congress that
the military is no more
efficient with taxpayer
dollars than the rest of the
government.
Examples include
$21,000 to house a set of
gears for an aircraft carrier
that is no longer active.
Depressing as these
cases are, it is heartening
to know that someone in
Congress still has the
gumption to uncover and
publicize them. After all,
spotlighting waste is the
first step toward eliminating it.
FROM O-PINION, THE EDITORIAL BOARD’S BLOG
Why N.C. car
insurance rates are
the nation’s lowest
Government is pretty
distrusted these days, but
here in North Carolina,
motorists of all political
stripes can rightfully sing
the praises of Insurance
Commissioner Wayne
Goodwin and the N.C.
Department of Insurance,
the state officials responsible for capping what
insurance companies can
charge for
auto insurance.
According to a new
study from
consumer
finance site
Goodwin
insurance
Quote.com
and Quadrant Information
Services, North Carolina is
the least expensive state in
the country to buy car
insurance.
North Carolina residents pay about 41 percent less annually for auto
insurance than the national average of $811, the
study found. (In Mecklenburg and Gaston, though,
customers pay 7 percent
and 6 percent higher,
respectively, than the state
average).
Idaho, Iowa, Wisconsin
and Maine round out the
top five for cheapest premiums.
At the other end of the
spectrum, Michigan,
Rhode Island, New York,
Delaware and Louisiana
had the highest rates, the
study found.
Why are North Carolina’s rates so low? The
study cited three reasons:
It’s a mostly rural state,
which means less crime,
cheaper cost of living and
fewer accidents, all of
which drives insurance
rates lower.
Goodwin is empowered
to cap car insurance rates.
Insurance firms compete
by offering discounts below the established cap.
Because of this intense
competition, more than
2,000 different auto insurance discounts are
offered by North Carolina
auto insurers, an amount
the study called “uncharacteristically high.”
Insurance companies
tried last year to change
all that by backing the
doomed “Good Driver
Discount Bill,” whose title
disguised an old-fashioned Trojan horse. It
would have required giving up the caps in exchange for vague promises
that insurance firms unshackled from government “price-fixing” would
compete even harder for
customers by offering new
discounts. In South Carolina, rates went up 23
percent after a similar
change took hold in the
1990s.
Thankfully, the “Good
Driver” bill went nowhere.
The system’s working just
fine for consumers in
North Carolina.
Eric Frazier
THE OBSERVER FORUM
Black leaders must
take a stronger stand
In response to “A frank
talk on race” (April 26)
and related articles:
In his
recent comments in
the Observer, civil
rights attorney
Bryan SteMonroe
venson
acknowledged no culpability on
the part of the black community for the tragic consequences of recent encounters with police.
Meanwhile, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake
asked the Baltimore Police
Department to give “those
who wish to destroy space
to do that as well.”
– Steve Monroe , Charlotte
Police must keep
Baltimore safe
In response to “After
funeral, Baltimore rioters
injure officers” (April 28):
The chaos in Baltimore
is evidence that law enforcement is a critical
component of the American system.
Shame on Baltimore
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake for her mis-
Ann Caulkins
Publisher & President
guided leadership. The
violence there is utterly
disrespectful and lawless.
Law enforcement
should maintain the right
to protect property and
law-abiding citizens with
any amount of force necessary.
– Traci Cherry Cockerham ,
Charlotte
Obama ranks full of
Ivy League grads
In response to “North
Carolinians should be
troubled by Schaffer’s
educational background”
(April 26 Forum):
Forum writer Steve
Craig is troubled by Rep.
Jacqueline Schaffer’s educational background at
Regent University, a
Christian school.
He needs to be reminded that the absolute mess
our federal government is
in, both economically and
in foreign policy, was
perpetrated, for the most
part, by many Harvard
grads with a few Yale
grads thrown in for good
measure.
The country would be
far better off with fewer
Ivy League elites and a lot
more folks educated elsewhere.
– John Petrie , Fort Mill, S.C.
Rick Thames
Editor
Cheryl Carpenter
Managing Editor
Chasteen not
qualified
Gov. Pat Mcrory’s recent nomination of J.
Todd Chasteen to the
State Board of Education
raises some serious questions about the real motives for his appointment.
With little in the way of
any education background, except that his
wife is administrator of a
private Christian school in
Boone, he utterly lacks the
required background to
serve the state’s public
school system and the
children it serves.
Last year he was instrumental in efforts to
ban a book from Watauga
County schools, much to
our state’s public and
national embarrassment at
the time.
The current administration can do better, and
should, by selecting a
qualified candidate.
– Alan Crighton , Apex
Energy market is
rigged
In response to “Energy
solutions come from the
market, not from
mandates” (April 26
Forum):
Forum writer Travis
Fisher of the American
Energy Alliance, a Koch
Brothers-funded mouthpiece for the fossil fuel
industry, neglected to
mention that the fossil
fuel industry fails the
“market test” in an even
bigger way because it pays
nothing to pump unlimited amounts of CO2 into
the air.
That’s a subsidy that
dwarfs those given to
renewable energy.
Until we put a price on
the carbon pumped into
our atmosphere, our energy market is
rigged in
favor of
fossil fuels.
As it is,
every time
we flip the
light switch
or start our
Thomason
car we send
a bill to our grandchildren.
They are not going to be
happy about it.
– Bob Thomason, Charlotte
Stop soft-balling
Clintons
On the second page, not
the front page, the Observer reported on the Clinton Foundation’s “missteps.” (“Clinton Foundation admits disclosure missteps,” April 27)
“Mistakenly” combining
grants and donations is
fraud.
The Clintons continue
to run through the media
rainand never get wet.
– Ron Harnach, Charlotte
Taylor Batten
Editorial Page Editor
Peter St. Onge, Eric Frazier
Editorial Page Assocate Editors
Kevin Siers
Cartoonist
Nancy Webb
Forum Editor
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PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
The police
and ‘Black
Baltimore’
Viewpoint
The baggage that
Hillary Clinton brings
BY SHAUN LA
The Baltimore Sun
The footage involving
Freddie Gray and the
Baltimore City cops
brought it all back.
Growing up in 1990s
Baltimore, some of the
cops would use Black
Baltimore as a playground
to do whatever they wanted to do. Preteen years, I
would hear from the teenagers and the older men in
my neighborhood about
the harassment, brutality
and false arrests. I would
watch their eyes and hear
them mumble profanity at
the patrol cars riding by
them slowly, while the
cops would make eye
contact right back at them.
In my teenage years, I
would start to see it for
myself. Cops handcuffing
you, followed with an
order for you to stand in
the hot sun. They would
go back to sit comfortably
in their patrol car with the
air conditioning, eyes
fixed on you, claiming
they are radioing in your
description, which would
take them 20 or 30 minutes to complete.
The physical brutality
by their hands ran rampant in the 1990s, especially in the summer seasons. Lord knows what my
uncles and the fathers,
older brothers and uncles
of my childhood friends
went through in the 1980s
and 1970s, before mobile
phone cameras and the
Internet. Not to mention
the verbal insults that you
would hear from some of
these cops smelling like
aftershave and mouthwash: “Roaches!” “Junkie!” “Dummy!” “Shut the
(expletive) up! I will lock
you up if you say one
more word.” You could be
sitting in your home, with
your window up and open
in Black Baltimore and
hear this kind of dialogue.
Lately, this is why I have
not been tuning into CNN
or The Baltimore Sun
online to see what the
media is saying about my
city. This is why 90 percent of the time, I will stay
quiet when people who are
not from Baltimore ask
me, “Is ‘The Wire’ like
Baltimore?” Years ago
when “The Wire” was on
the air, people use to question me about why I would
decline to watch it; I
would answer, “two white
men are the creators of
this show, and one is a
former Baltimore City
cop.” I knew that I would
lose them if I went into
the details.
The media does Black
Baltimore no favors in the
fairness category. Either
my people are hooked on
drugs, romanticized as
some mythical drug-kingpin or, as of recently, violent protestors without a
cause. Such unfairness will
instruct you to pay no
mind to the progress the
city has made and the
history fueling today’s
protests: generations of
blacks in Baltimore going
through police brutality,
verbally, emotionally and
physically.
There is an element of
being black and dealing
with oppression that won’t
ever be fully expressed on
television or in the newspapers, because after the
camera crews leave, the
inequalities somehow find
a way to continue. Maybe
in the future, if complete
freedom does find a way
to come, it will be in the
form that such an element
is not edited by those who
do not know or understand. Maybe then they
will shut-up and listen.
Shaun La is a
photographer, writer and a
former Baltimore resident
who now lives in New York.
21A
BY MICHAEL GERSON
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON
Assuming there is no
direct quid pro quo in the
thicket of Clinton Foundation donations and State
Department decisions – an
assumption that may
make an abettor out of
you and me – what compels the Clintons to operate so close to the ethical
line when public scrutiny
is so likely?
Any competent political
adviser or ethics lawyer
would have placed the
Rosatom uranium power
play in the outbox labeled
“stinks to high heaven.”
Hillary Clinton had been
warned during her confirmation hearing that the
appearance of impropriety
would be magnified by the
Clinton Foundation’s
thirst for funding. “Every
new foreign donation that
is accepted by the foundation,” said then-Sen. Richard Lugar, “comes with
the risk it will be connected in the global media to a
proximate State Department policy or decision.”
It is possible, of course,
that Clinton had no intention of running for
president at that point.
Some friends were urging
her not to, and a final
decision was probably
delayed until late in 2014.
Had she remained a private citizen, these would
have been the lowerstakes concerns of a presidential foundation.
But even if Clinton had
not yet decided on a presidential run, it was always
a serious prospect. Everyone around her knew that
foundation matters might
eventually fall under microscopic examination.
But a bear was allowed
into the room.
The best explanation
JIM COLE AP
Hillary Clinton is under fire,
again for her judgment.
I’ve heard, by people who
have watched the Clintons
closely for decades, is that
they share an invincible
conviction about the goodness of their own motives.
Having spent a lifetime
serving the country and
the world’s poor, they
believe they have earned
the right to be trusted. The
perception of a conflict of
interest doesn’t really
matter, because their
motivations are pure.
Their good works speak
for themselves. And the
Clinton Foundation has
done some good work,
particularly in negotiating
lower prices for the drugs
that treat HIV/AIDS.
This was Hillary Clinton’s main argument justifying the destruction of
tens of thousands of
emails from the account
she used as secretary of
state: She was serving the
country, so Americans
should trust her.
Addressing the current
round of accusations,
Clinton has said: “I know
that that comes, unfortunately, with the territory.”
Democrats are also finding it comes with the candidate.
Email: michaelgerson@
washpost.com.
THE BUZZ
Anonymous comments
from our readers on the
issues of the day
Volcano in Chile,
earthquake in Nepal,
self-implosion in
Baltimore.
Nothing says “racial
reconciliation” like
mindless looting and
rioting.
Imagine if Kinston’s top
chem, math or bio
students were recruited so
aggressively.
Nothing says “fiscally
responsible” like spending
$1M for something you
can get for free.
Why not just paste a few
thousand dollar bills on
the walls?
What Joker would have
batarangs in his carry-on?
The drone
precision fantasy
BY NOAH FELDMAN
Bloomberg News
Every weapons system,
from the bow and arrow to
the intercontinental ballistic missile, sometimes kills
the wrong people. So why
has the revelation that a
U.S. drone strike accidentally killed two al-Qaida
hostages – a U.S. citizen
and an Italian aid worker –
created such a storm of
drone “rethinking”?
Part of the answer is
that liberal critics of drone
strikes, who’ve questioned
their legality, are using the
opportunity to repeat and
reframe their criticisms.
I’ve joined in some of that
criticism in the past and
stand by it.
But the deeper reason
for the renewed discussion
is a pernicious myth: the
fantasy that drones are
uniquely precise. From the
start, this fantasy of precision has been at the heart
of the political and tactical
appeal for President Barack Obama. The same
myth has also been central
to legal criticisms of the
strikes, from the standpoints of U.S. constitutional law and of international law.
Start with the appeal of
drones. The intelligence
community was the first to
be smitten, not for drones’
capacity to strike but for
their ability to circle repeatedly and gather detailed information without
creating risk to U.S. pilots.
As an intelligence-gathering tool, unarmed drones
are in fact highly distinctive. Satellites can take
increasingly precise photographs without being
noticed, but most can’t
point their cameras at one
place for very long. Of
course, if a satellite is on a
geosynchronous orbit, it
can aim at a specific target
indefinitely – but then it
can’t look anywhere else
unless you move it, which
requires substantial effort.
Drones are much more
nimble.
This information-gathering advantage sparked, I
AP
Kidnapped American
Warren Weinstein, 72, was
killed by a U.S. drone strike.
think, the fantasy of drone
precision in airstrikes. It’s
true that the operator of
an armed drone can deliver a missile to a site that’s
been carefully scoped out
by other drones. But conventional aircraft could
use that same intelligence
to deliver deliver missiles
with similar precision (and
a similar margin for error).
The real military advantage of the armeddrone strike over a conventional airstrike, then,
isn’t the precision of the
hit. It’s the fact that a pilot
isn’t being put in jeopardy.
Yet somehow the idea that
drone strikes are more
precisely targeted has
lingered, giving the technique greater public appeal.
There can be little doubt
that the Obama administration benefited politically from this aura of
precision. If the characteristic George W. Bush
bombing tactic was “shock
and awe,” the technologically sophisticated Obama’s signature became
targeted drone strikes. It’s
an easy sell: the use of
smart power to kill only
the bad guys.
At the same time, the
fantasy of precision had a
substantial legal downside. No one believes that
an American army fighting in the battlefield
against an enemy that
includes a handful of U.S.
citizens would owe any
special legal duty to the
Americans fighting for the
enemy. Yet a memoran-
dum written by the White
House’s Office of Legal
Counsel argued that
Americans who would be
targeted in drone strikes
apparently deserved constitutional protection under the due process
clause.
Astonishingly, this crucial memo has still not
been released in full, despite repeated promises by
the administration to
release it – and despite the
fact that its author is now
a federal appellate judge.
But due process is what
an individual gets if put on
trial. That standard could
apply to drone strikes only
if you imagined drones as
highly targeted weapons
rather than generalized
bomb strikes.
The fantasy of precision
was also at the core of
international legal criticism. Critics like a special
rapporteur appointed by
the United Nations, Philip
Alston, focused on international legal prohibitions on targeted, extrajudicial killings. No one
applies such terms to ordinary warfare – even
though ordinary bombs
kill people.
When it comes to
drones, the fantasy of
precision is just that, a
fantasy. Killing innocent
civilians, whether they’re
Americans or Pakistanis or
Yemenis, is an inevitable
reality of war. The right
criteria to analyze attacks
are the familiar ones of
policy and law: Is the
strike justified? Is it aimed
at a military target? Is it
proportional?
To answer those crucial
questions, we need to start
from facts, not fantasy.
Noah Feldman, a
Bloomberg View columnist,
is a professor of
constitutional and
international law at
Harvard University.
Hillary: “I did not have
financial relations with
that foundation!”
Is Hillary’s Teflon coating
wearing off?
Krugman proves (again)
that if you torture
numbers long enough
they’ll confess to
anything.
Princess Schaffer, you
may now go back to your
Ivory Tower.
Seems the checkered flag
will never wave at the
NASCAR Hall of Fame.
My HVAC is totally
confused.
JOIN THE BUZZ
Add your voice to The Buzz at
[email protected].
EDITORIAL ONLINE
OUR VIEW
How the DA can boost
public trust
charlotteobserver.com/
o-pinion
ERIC FRAZIER
The class divide goes to
college
charlotteobserver.com/
eric-frazier
PETER ST. ONGE
Whom to trust in troubled
water?
charlotteobserver.com/
peter-st-onge
YOU WRITE THE
CAPTION
Your new challenge from
Kevin Siers
charlotteobserver.com/
you-write-the-caption
VIEW THEM ALL
charlotteobserver.com/
opinion
22A
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
FACEBOOK.COM/CHARLOTTEOBSERVER
TWITTER.COM/@THEOBSERVER
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
1B
Charlotte to host international
soccer match in July. 2B
Sports
INSIDE
DUKE BASKETBALL
WILL RELOAD AFTER
NATIONAL TITLE. 2B
NFL DRAFT
A legacy for
Zack Hodges
. ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................
Ex-Independence star played final Charlotte game on day he buried his mother
. ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................
Once homeless, Hodges learned lessons of never giving up
JEFF SINER - jsiner@charlotteobs
Zack Hodges played in 2008 on the day he buried his mother.
. ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................
A star at Harvard, now Hodges hopes to make an impact in the NFL
. ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................
BY JOSEPH PERSON
[email protected]
Z
ack Hodges’ last
football game for
Independence
High came on the
September day in 2008
when he buried his mother.
Hodges, his coaches and
several dozen of his teammates attended the afternoon funeral for Barbara
Wright, who died at 48
after a massive stroke.
Then Hodges played
alongside them that night
against West Charlotte,
making three and a half
tackles in the 49-3 win.
“Me and my mom, we
gave up a lot for this,” he
said then.
Football had always
been a source of strength
and escape for Hodges,
who had faced previous
tragedy.
Hodges’ father, a professional boxer, died when
he was 1. His grandfather,
who became a positive
influence, passed away
when Hodges was 14. And
for a few stretches when
Hodges was a teenager, he
and his mother had nowhere to live in Charlotte.
But none of those obstacles hit as hard as his
mother’s death, which left
him without the person he
DAVID J. PHILLIP AP
Harvard defensive lineman Zack Hodges runs a drill at the NFL scouting combine.
loved, facing an uncertain
future with no immediate
family to turn to.
Now, six years later,
he’s looking forward to
the NFL draft after a successful football career at
Harvard. He’s projected as
a mid- to late-round prospect and said he’ll think of
his mom when he hears
IN MY OPINION
SCOTT FOWLER
NASCAR
shouldn’t
scrimp on
safety
his named called. Hodges
said getting drafted will be
just another step in his
journey.
“There is no finish line.
That’s what I learned with
all the experiences me and
my mom went through,”
Hodges said. “My mom
gave me everything. All
the ups and downs that
me and my mom went
through, there was no
finish line.
“It’ll be a great moment. I expect it to be. ...
But I don’t want to take
away from that moment
and make it the summation of it all. Because it’s
part of the whole story,
‘‘
THERE IS NO FINISH LINE. THAT’S WHAT
I LEARNED WITH ALL THE EXPERIENCES
ME AND MY MOM WENT THROUGH,”
- ZACK HODGES
SEE LEGACY, 3B
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.
It is inexcusable. Incomprehensible. Idiotic.
But it remains true that dozens of NASCAR tracks have the
technology to make their facilities safer for their stars – the
drivers – and yet have not done
so.
The latest example came
Saturday, when Kyle Busch
slammed into an infield wall in
the Alert Today Florida 300 at
Daytona International. That
interior wall was not protected
by a SAFER barrier, commonly
called a “soft wall,” which lessens a crash’s impact.
Busch climbed out of the car,
alert but in obvious pain from a
compound fracture of his right
lower leg and a mid-foot fracture of his left foot. He went to
BRIAN LAWDERMILK Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 54 car crashes at Daytona.
the hospital on a stretcher. His
pregnant wife was in tears. He is
out of Sunday’s Daytona 500.
A remorseful Daytona International Speedway President
Joie Chitwood III said Saturday
night that his track would have a
temporary fix in place for the
Daytona 500 Sunday and would
soon cover every inch of its
inside and outside walls with
SAFER barriers.
“The Daytona International
Speedway did not live up to its
responsibility today,” Chitwood
said. “We should have had a
SAFER barrier there today. We
did not. We’re going to fix that.
We’re going to fix that right
now.”
“What happened tonight
should not have happened,”
NASCAR executive vice president Steve O’Donnell said.
“That’s on us. We’re going to fix
it.”
But what took so long?
Chitwood and O’Donnell did
SEE FOWLER, 2B
2B
Sports
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
SPORTS TODAY
NBA POSTGAME
. ...................................................................................................................................
Charlotte Knights 704-274-8282
Wednesday, 11:05 a.m.: Toledo
Thursday, 7:05: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
Friday, 7:05: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
Charlotte Independence 704-206-1515
Saturday, 7: Louisville City
May 8, 7:30: Richmond
May 16, 7: at Harrisburg City
Charlotte Hounds 800-745-3000
Sunday, 5: at Denver
May 10, 1: Chesapeake
May 16, 7: at Ohio
. ...................................................................................................................................
Curry’s
daughter:
‘Awww’
inspiring
CONTACT US
Call 704-358-5125 or
email
obsports@charlotte
observer.com
Mike Persinger,
executive editor:
mpersinger
@charlotte
observer.com
Harry Pickett,
deputy sports editor
(colleges, golf, high
schools, NBA):
hpickett@charlotte
observer.com
OAKLAND, CALIF.
SAM RICHE TNS
Wednesday’s TV
Horse Racing
All times p.m. unless noted.
Schedules subject to change.
Men’s Soccer
Kentucky Derby Draw NBCSN .....5:30
College Baseball
Kennesaw St. at Auburn SEC ............7
Major League Baseball
Tampa Bay at N.Y. Yankees or
Detroit at Minnesota MLB ...............1
%Washington at Atlanta SPSO..........7
Philadelphia at St. Louis ESPN.........8
NBA
Chelsea at Leicester City NBCSN2:40
KEY: % Available in South Carolina
and the N.C. counties of Anson, Ashe,
Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus,
Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Gaston, Guilford,
Haywood, Henderson, Iredell, Lincoln, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Moore,
Polk, Randolph, Richmond, Rowan,
Rutherford, Stanly, Union, Watauga
and Wilkes
.
Brooklyn at Atlanta TNT ...................7
Portland at Memphis TNT ...........9:30
Radio highlights
Golf
Minor League Baseball
Indonesian Masters GOLF........11 a.m.
Cadillac Match Play Championship
GOLF....................................................4
Toledo at Charlotte..............11:05 a.m.
WZGV-AM (730, Cramerton)
Ice Hockey
Ice Sledge World Champ. NBCSN
.......................................................10:30
NHL
Detroit at Tampa Bay NBCSN ......7:30
INTERNATIONAL SOCCER
Charlotte to host
Chelsea-PSG
match
. ..................................................................................................................
International Champions Cup game set for July 25
. ..................................................................................................................
General public ticket sale starts May 7
. ..................................................................................................................
Last international soccer match here drew 64,000
. ..................................................................................................................
BY DAVID SCOTT
[email protected]
Charlotte will have its
biggest summer of international soccer yet
when England’s Chelsea
plays Paris Saint-Germain
in an International Champions Cup game July 25 in
Bank of America Stadium.
A news conference to
introduce the game to
Charlotte is scheduled for
Wednesday at the stadium.
The Chelsea-PSG game
follows an already announced Gold Cup doubleheader July 15, when
Cuba plays Guatemala
and Mexico goes against
Trinidad & Tobago.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Chelsea, which is closing in on this season’s
English Premier League
title, is led by coach Jose
Mourinho and players
such as Eden Hazard,
Diego Costa and John
Terry. Mourinho is perhaps the most controversial and polarizing
soccer coach in the world
with his often bristly behavior and defensive-minded (yet effective) tactics.
PSG, which advanced to
the quarterfinals of Europe’s Champions League
by beating Chelsea, has
one of the world’s top
forwards in Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as well as Brazilian
defenders David Luiz and
Thiago Silva.
EXPLAINING THE ICC
The International
Champions Cup brings
together several of the
world’s top teams for a
tournament with games in
the United States, Canada,
Based on page
views from
midnight to 5:30
p.m. Tuesday:
1. NCAA probe played
‘big factor’ in Brandon
Ingram turning down
UNC
2. Stephen Curry
parents talk success,
family
3. Top basketball recruit
Brandon Ingram
chooses Duke
4. Chelsea to face Paris
Saint-Germain in
Charlotte in July soccer
match
5. South Meck baseball
coach Jon Tuscan, now
cancer-free: ‘My dog
saved my life’
England and Italy. Teams
include Spain’s Barcelona,
England’s Manchester
United and Chelsea, Mexico’s Club America, PSG,
Portugal’s Porto, Italy’s
Fiorentina, as well as
Major League Soccer’s
New York Red Bulls, Los
Angeles Galaxy and San
Jose Earthquakes.
Other games will be
played in Chicago, Hartford, Conn., Harrison,
N.J., San Jose, Calif., Seattle, Toronto, Los Angeles,
Mexico City, Washington,
Santa Clara, Calif., Carson, Calif., London and
Florence, Italy.
Each team plays four
games; the team with the
most points (three for a
win, one for a tie) wins the
tournament.
SOUNDS FAMILIAR
England’s Liverpool
beat Italy’s A.C. Milan 2-0
in an ICC game in front of
a crowd of 69,364 last
summer at Bank of America Stadium.
TICKET INFORMATION
Presale tickets for most
ICC games will be available beginning 10 a.m.
Monday. General public
sales begin 10 a.m. May 7.
More information is available at International
ChampionsCup.com.
Scott: 704-358-5889;
Twitter: @davidscott14
SANG TAN AP
Chelsea of the Premier League is coming to Charlotte.
FROM PAGE 1B
FOWLER
not have a good answer.
Kevin Harvick hit an unprotected wall at Daytona
just last year, and said
firmly and repeatedly in
interviews that soft walls
should be mandated at
Daytona.
Referring to Daytona’s
highly publicized
$400 million renovation,
Harvick also tweeted a
year ago: “If you can
spend $400 million on
renovating your track you
can afford a few more soft
walls.”
The barriers are expensive, at a reported cost of
$500 per square foot.
That means it can cost
$2.6 million to install a
mile’s worth of the SAFER
(Steel and Foam Energy
Reduction) barriers.
Tracks throughout NAS-
Top sports stories at
CharlotteObserver.com
CAR’s top series must
install them at least in the
corners, but NASCAR
does not make the tracks
install the barriers everywhere, and only a few of
them do.
This unfortunately fits a
pattern. NASCAR too
often doesn’t do enough
until an accident forces its
hand. The sport got far
safer for drivers after Dale
Earnhardt was killed in a
last-lap crash at the 2001
Daytona 500 (SAFER
barriers did not exist
then). But most of the
safety initiatives since
have not been proactive.
Fortunately, Busch
wasn’t hurt worse. His
crash was nasty.
Several drivers took to
Twitter on Saturday night
to slam NASCAR and
Daytona Speedway for not
already having installed
soft walls everywhere.
A sampling of tweets:
“All we do is wreck at
Daytona and that massive
wall has no safer barrier?
Unbelievable!” –Kasey
Kahne.
“I’m genuinely furious
right now. Any wall in any
of the top 3 series without
safer barriers is INEXCUSABLE. It’s 2015.” –
Regan Smith.
No matter the cost,
NASCAR and its tracks
can afford it.
First, because it’s the
right thing to do. And
second, because at some
point, if SAFER walls
aren’t installed everywhere, some driver is
going to get killed.
Fowler: sfowler@charlotte
observer.com; Twitter:
@scott_fowler
Duke will lose Jahlil Okafor and two other freshmen stars.
DUKE BASKETBALL
Reloaded roster will
add depth, questions
BY LAURA KEELEY
[email protected]
On April 6, Duke won
the national title.
By April 15, Duke had
lost half of its roster after
freshmen Jahlil Okafor,
Tyus Jones and Justise
Winslow declared for the
NBA draft. That left the
Blue Devils with seven
scholarship players lined
up for next season.
Less than two weeks
later, Duke has reloaded.
In recent days, Duke
added a three-star center
(Antonio Vrankovic), persuaded a five-star point
guard to reclassify and
graduate from high school
a year early (Derryck
Thornton) and landed the
top uncommitted player
from the class of 2015
(Brandon Ingram).
It’s hard to even attempt to pencil in a starting five for Duke right
now, beyond Thornton at
the point. . Coach Mike
Krzyzewski generally likes
to divide his guys into
perimeter players and post
players.
Perimeter players:
Thornton, Grayson Allen,
Luke Kennard, Matt Jones,
Ingram.
That group is listed in
ascending size order.
Thornton, Allen and Kennard likely will occupy the
spots traditionally labeled
1 and 2 (point guard and
shooting guard). Thornton
is the true point guard,
though Allen and Kennard
certainly could spell him
for short periods.
Post players: Amile
Jefferson, Sean Obi, Chase
Jeter, Vrankovic, Marshall
Plumlee
This group is also listed
in ascending size order.
There will be times when
Duke wants to play a true
center to defend an opponent’s back-to-the-basket
big man — Plumlee and
Jefferson are equipped to
do so and have done so.
Obi has the size (6-foot-9,
270 pounds) that suggests
he should be able to body
up a big man, too.
Keeley: 919-829-4556;
Twitter: @laurakeeley
Stephen Curry knows he
may no longer be the
biggest star in his family.
At least for one day, that
title belonged to his 2year-old daughter, Riley.
She stole the spotlight
from the Golden State
Warriors guard and NBA
MVP during his news
conference after Tuesday
night’s 110-106 victory
over the Houston Rockets
in Game 1 of the Western
Conference finals.
Photos and videos of the
moment began to trend on
social media as fans let
out a collective “awwww.”
But some on national
television talk shows and
Twitter debated if she was
an unnecessary distraction
as Curry took reporters’
questions.
Curry didn’t understand
that, and described it as a
spur-of-the-moment decision between dad and
daughter.
“I didn’t know how she
was going to act because
that’s the first time I’ve
ever brought her up
there,” Curry said
Wednesday, after practice.
“Once she started laughing after the first question
when she heard my voice
in the microphone, I knew
it was going to be downhill
from there.”
SARAH TODD AP
Stephen Curry with his
daughter Riley.
Sports
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
FROM PAGE 1B
135 pounds
LEGACY
Number of pounds Zack
Hodges could bench press in
high school.
the whole journey.”
FIGURING IT OUT
Barbara Wright held
several jobs to try to make
ends meet while Hodges,
her only child, attended
Independence.
He was born in New
York and lived in Queens
until he was 8, when they
moved to Gaffney, S.C.,
after his mother remarried. She split up with her
second husband after only
a year or two.
Wright had two stints at
Providence Springs Elementary as the school’s
custodian and, later, in the
after-school program. She
always provided the best
she could, her son remembers.
“There were some periods when me and my
mom were, you could say,
homeless,” Hodges said
during a recent phone
interview. “My mom always took care of me and
made sure I had what I
needed.”
Hodges wants to make
it clear their struggles
were not a reflection of
her character.
“My mom was never on
any drugs or anything like
that,” Hodges said. “We
just had some unfortunate
circumstances. ... It
wouldn’t ever be for too
long. My mom would find
something within hopefully a few days or a week.”
Hodges used the library
to access the Internet and
took trash to dumpsters
behind restaurants or
other businesses because
his mother couldn’t afford
garbage removal.
“There were always
these small things that
seemed so hard to get
done or achieve,” Hodges
said. “But me and my
mom always figured
something out.”
WATCHING OVER
Hodges and his mother
received occasional meals
from neighbors or families
from University Park Baptist Church, where they
were members. But Hodges felt an obligation to
help his mother financially, particularly after his
grandfather died.
“I struggled a lot with
this feeling or sense that I
have to provide, I have to
step up, be a man and be
serious,” Hodges said.
“Handle different things
that me and my family
were going through.”
Hodges earned extra
money through odd jobs
around the Morris Farms
neighborhood in Mint
Hill, where he and his
mother rented a home.
Chris Kenny and his
wife, Yovonne, who lived
down the street from
Hodges, were home one
weekend when Hodges
knocked on the door and
asked to mow their lawn.
Chris Kenny had just cut it
but told Hodges to come
100th
Hodges’ rating in Sports
Illustrated’s ranking of
NFL draft prospects.
offices, competed on the
debate team and was a
high-intensity player who
made up for his slight
frame with all-out effort.
Knotts, who now coaches in South Carolina, said
the 6-2, 190-pound Hodges struggled to do one rep
of 135 pounds on the incline bench at Independence. When Knotts saw
Hodges at the NFL scouting combine in February,
he was shocked to find a
muscular, 250-pound
defensive end.
“I’m amazed at how
much thicker he’s gotten,”
Knotts said.
DAVID J. PHILLIP AP
Zack Hodges runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis.
back the next week.
Kenny says Hodges
didn’t show up at the
agreed-upon time but was
at his door shortly after
sunrise two weeks later to
cut the Kennys’ grass for
$20.
His mother later came
down to inspect her son’s
work. “Well, aren’t you
going to rake it?” Wright
asked him.
The yard work led to a
close bond between Hodges and the Kennys, who
would host him and his
mother for holiday dinners. Other times Hodges
would drop by to help
Chris install hardwood
floors or hang out while
Yovonne called businesses
for her job with the Yellow
Pages.
“I was just smiling and
dialing, and he just wanted to watch,” Yovonne
said. “He just wanted to
be a part of something.
Then his mom would
always come down and
critique everything he’d
done.”
The Kennys say behind
Wright’s strict exterior
was a loving mother who
wanted only the best for
her son.
DIGNITY RARELY SEEN
Early during his junior
year at Independence,
Hodges, 16, was getting
ready for school when his
mother collapsed. He
called 911 and an ambu-
HANDOUT PHOTO
Zack Hodges with Chris Kenny, Chris' wife, Yovonne and
their son, Nate.
lance rushed Wright to the
hospital, where doctors
tried to save her after
she’d suffered a stroke.
Barbara Wright died the
next day – Sept. 6, 2008,
almost 15 years to the day
after his father passed
away.
Independence created a
trust fund for Hodges.
“He’s very mature for his
age, and he carries himself
with a dignity you don’t
see very often,” principal
Mark Bosco said then.
“This is a kid who worked
really hard to get where he
is, academically, athletically and everything else.
And his mother did every-
thing she could do to put
him in that position.”
Hodges’ aunt and
grandmother arrived in
Charlotte from Georgia
and made the funeral
arrangements. Hodges
moved to Atlanta the next
week with them.
Former Independence
coach Tom Knotts said he
never realized the extent
of Hodges’ situation until
he visited the house after
Wright died and found
there was no hot water.
Hodges was private
when it came to his family’s struggles. At school
he was an outgoing student who ran for class
CAROLINA PANTHERS
Oher at home
at left tackle
BY JONATHAN JONES
[email protected]
Michael Oher is coming
off his worst season as a
professional, and the Carolina Panthers have him
as their starting left tackle.
Both Oher and the Panthers believe they have
identified the problems
and have worked to fix
them. That meant offseason surgery and a return
to fundamentals that he
feels were lacking in 2014
with his first and only
season in Tennessee.
When Carolina came
calling with a two-year
deal worth $7 million,
Oher didn’t want to disappoint his third team in
three years.
“It seemed like they
wanted me,” Oher said
Thursday after the week’s
final practice of organized
team activities. “I got the
(same) feeling going into
my rookie year of not
wanting to let guys down
and guys with a winning
culture. For me, it’s about
getting back to the basics
and fundamentals of doing everything right. Looking myself in the mirror
knowing what I have to do
and getting better from
within.”
Oher projects to be
Carolina’s third left tackle
JEFF SINER [email protected]
Carolina Panthers tackle Michael Oher said Thursday he’s
happy to be with teammates who know how to win.
in three years, following
the retirement of Jordan
Gross after the 2013 season and the failed Byron
Bell experiment in 2014.
Oher had four good
years in Baltimore to start
his career before a nagging toe injury hampered
his play in 2013. Oher
signed a four-year, $20
million deal with the Titans before the 2014 season, but the injury persisted.
That wasn’t the only
thing holding Oher back,
though. In interviews
since signing with Carolina, Oher has mentioned
COLLEGE INTEREST
After losing his mother
and leaving Independence
and Charlotte , Hodges
said he had a “miserable”
first year at Tri-Cities
High in south Atlanta.
“Sixteen was probably
the longest year of my
life,” he said.
But things improved
during his senior football
season, when he had 21
sacks and 10 forced fumbles, despite missing three
games with swine flu.
Hodges drew interest
from Stanford, Air Force
and Marshall, among
others. But the opportunity to experience a “range
and depth of opportunities” led Hodges to Cambridge.
Harvard’s coaches recommended Hodges spend
a year at Phillips Exeter
Academy, the New Hampshire prep school whose
alumni list includes names
like du Pont, Eisenhower
and Rockefeller.
Hodges didn’t know
Exeter’s history. For a
student who’d received As
and Bs in high school, it
seemed like a slap in the
face.
“The closest thing I
could compare Exeter to
coming from the South
was a JUCO (junior college) school,” Hodges
said. “I was like, I tutor
other kids, why would I
need to do this? I didn’t
realize that Exeter is one
of the top five high
schools in the world.”
EMBRACING HARVARD
Hodges says now the
year at Exeter helped him
appreciate the distinctions
among different socioeconomic groups.
“I thought being asked
to go there was a reflection on me rather than an
opportunity at life. But
since going there, I have
friends from around the
world,” Hodges said. “I
entered into this kind of
terms such as “atmosphere,” “culture” and
“fundamentals” multiple
times.
When pressed, Oher
won’t go into specifics.
But it appears he doesn’t
believe there was a culture
of winning in Tennessee,
and he disagreed with
what he was asked to do at
tackle.
With Carolina, he’s
trying to make sure he
sticks as the long-term
answer at left tackle.
“I’m doing everything in
my power to make that
happen,” Oher said. “
According to football
analytics site Pro Football
Focus, Oher was the 15thbest tackle in the league in
his 2009 rookie season.
He lost ground in all but
one year in the following
seasons and eventually
bottomed out at 75th of 84
tackles in the Titans’ 2-14
season last year.
Oher had offseason toe
surgery and said he feels
as good as he ever has as a
professional. The Panthers
also consulted offensive
line coach John Matsko,
3B
duality of being able to
claim two very different
backgrounds, from innercity kid from Charlotte
and Atlanta (to) the other
that went to a high-nose,
boarding school.”
Hodges embraced what
Harvard offered. In addition to his coursework in
government and philosophy, Hodges joined the
law society and finance
club, served as a drug and
alcohol peer adviser and
volunteered at homeless
shelters.
Harvard defensive line
coach Mike Horan said
the coaching staff was
concerned the overnight
shifts at the shelter would
disrupt Hodges’ sleep
cycle, “but he managed to
get it done and have a
good balance of life in all
areas.”
Hodges took this semester off to prepare for the
draft, but plans to finish
his degree next spring.
He became the first
player in Ivy League history to win Defensive Player
of the Year honors twice.
Hodges, who is projected
as an NFL outside linebacker, had a leagueleading 8.5 sacks in 10
games last season and 10
tackles for loss.
He finished as Harvard’s all-time sacks leader with 27.
‘A BETTER LIFE’
When Hodges takes the
field prior to games or
before a new series, he
crosses himself and points
to the sky in honor of his
mother – just like he did
on the day of her funeral
when he played at Independence.
Those who know Hodges best say Barbara Wright
would be proud of the
man her son has become.
“She loved that boy
more than anything,” said
Chris Kenny, who manages a corporate recruiting
office for Charlotte banks.
“The only thing she wanted was a better life for
him.”
Knotts, the former Independence coach, told a
couple of the NFL scouts
who called him what
Hodges has overcome.
“Just to open eyes to
what Zack went through
to get to Harvard and then
a potential shot at the
NFL,” Knotts said. “It’s
just incredible to me.”
Hodges, ranked by
Sports Illustrated as the
100th-best draft prospect,
knows his story will be
retold as his NFL career
unfolds. He doesn’t want
it to read as a “sob story”
but rather one of perseverance.
“If my life in any way
touches somebody or can
be helpful to someone
who is going through
something similar,” he
said, “I’ll be open to that. I
think that’s the most important thing.”
Person: 704-358-5123;
Twitter: @josephperson
who has a background
with Oher, before signing
him.
Matsko coached the
Ravens offensive line for
Oher’s first two years in
the league. He helped the
first-round pick make the
NFL’s All-Rookie team
before joining Ron Rivera’s Panthers staff in 2011.
“Knowing the two of
them have a positive relationship, they’ve worked
well together,” Rivera
said. “He worked very
well for coach Matsko,
and then at the end of the
day he wanted to be here.
That’s one of the things
that he told us that impressed us.
“He said he wanted to
be here and needed to
improve and work on
certain things and get
back on track. Just hearing
that from a player, and
then watching him after
he signed his contract. He
was here and he’s been
here since; that’s very
pleasing.”
Jones: 704-358-5323;
Twitter: @jjones9
4B
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
Baseball
STANDINGS, SCHEDULE
RETURN TO THE RANGERS
AMERICAN LEAGUE
East
W
L
Pct
GB
L10
Str Home
Away
New York
Boston
Tampa Bay
Baltimore
Toronto
Central
12
11
11
9
9
W
8
9
9
10
11
L
.600
.550
.550
.474
.450
Pct
—
1
1
21⁄2
3
GB
8-2
4-6
5-5
4-6
4-6
L10
W-2
5-5
W-1
5-3
L-1
6-6
W-2
5-4
L-4
5-5
Str Home
7-3
6-6
5-3
4-6
4-6
Away
Detroit
Kansas City
Chicago
Minnesota
Cleveland
West
14
14
8
8
6
W
6
6
9
11
13
L
.700
.700
.471
.421
.316
Pct
—
—
4 ⁄2
51⁄2
71⁄2
GB
5-5
6-4
5-5
5-5
3-7
L10
W-3
8-5
W-2
7-2
W-2
6-3
L-1
4-3
L-4
1-6
Str Home
6-1
7-4
2-6
4-8
5-7
Away
Houston
Los Angeles
Seattle
Oakland
Texas
12
9
8
8
7
7
10
11
12
12
.632
.474
.421
.400
.368
—
3
4
41⁄2
5
8-2
5-5
5-5
3-7
3-7
W-4
L-1
W-1
L-4
L-1
Monday’s Games
Kansas City 6, Cleveland 2
Boston 6, Toronto 5
N.Y. Yankees 4, Tampa Bay 1
Chi. White Sox at Baltimore, ppd.
Seattle 3, Texas 1
Detroit 5, Minnesota 4
Houston 9, San Diego 4
Tuesday’s Games
Kansas City 11, Cleveland 5
Toronto at Boston, late
Chicago White Sox at Baltimore, ppd.
Tampa Bay at N.Y. Yankees, late
Seattle at Texas, late
Detroit at Minnesota, late
L.A. Angels at Oakland, late
Houston at San Diego, late
Wednesday’s Games
Tampa Bay (Smyly 0-0) at N.Y. Yankees
(Tanaka 2-1), 1:05
1
4-5
4-6
5-7
3-7
2-5
8-2
5-4
3-4
5-5
5-7
Detroit (Greene 3-1) at Minnesota
(P.Hughes 0-4), 1:10
Chicago White Sox (Samardzija 1-1) at
Baltimore (U.Jimenez 1-1), 2:05
Houston (Keuchel 2-0) at San Diego
(Cashner 1-3), 3:40
Kansas City (Ventura 2-1) at Cleveland
(Salazar 2-0), 6:10
Toronto (Dickey 0-2) at Boston (Porcello
1-2), 6:10
Seattle (F.Hernandez 3-0) at Texas
(W.Rodriguez 0-0), 8:05
L.A. Angels (Shoemaker 2-1) at Oakland
(Hahn 1-1), 10:05
Thursday’s Games
L.A. Angels at Oakland, 3:35
Toronto at Cleveland, 7:10
Chicago White Sox at Minnesota, 8:10
Detroit at Kansas City, 8:10
Seattle at Houston, 8:10
NATIONAL LEAGUE
East
W
L
Pct
GB
L10
Str Home
Away
New York
Atlanta
Miami
Philadelphia
Washington
Central
15
10
8
8
7
W
5
9
12
12
13
L
.750
.526
.400
.400
.350
Pct
—
41⁄2
7
7
8
GB
8-2
4-6
5-5
5-5
3-7
L10
W-1 10-0
W-1
4-3
L-1
4-6
W-2
6-6
L-6
5-5
Str Home
5-5
6-6
4-6
2-6
2-8
Away
St. Louis
Chicago
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Milwaukee
West
12
11
11
10
4
W
6
7
9
10
17
L
.667
.611
.550
.500
.190
Pct
—
1
2
3
91⁄2
GB
7-3
6-4
7-3
5-5
2-8
L10
L-2
5-2
W-3
5-4
L-1
6-4
W-2
6-4
L-2 3-10
Str Home
7-4
6-3
5-5
4-6
1-7
Away
Los Angeles
Colorado
San Diego
Arizona
San Francisco
12
11
11
8
8
7
8
10
11
12
.632
.579
.524
.421
.400
—
1
2
4
41⁄2
6-4
4-6
4-6
4-6
5-5
W-1
W-1
L-1
L-4
L-1
Monday’s Games
Cincinnati 9, Milwaukee 6
N.Y. Mets 3, Miami 1
Atlanta 8, Washington 4
Chicago Cubs 4, Pittsburgh 0
Philadelphia 4, St. Louis 1
Colorado 5, Arizona 4
Houston 9, San Diego 4
L.A. Dodgers 8, San Francisco 3
Tuesday’s Games
Cincinnati 4, Milwaukee 2
N.Y. Mets at Miami, late
Washington at Atlanta, late
Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs, late
Philadelphia at St. Louis, late
Colorado at Arizona, late
Houston at San Diego, late
San Francisco at L.A. Dodgers, late
Wednesday’s Games
Milwaukee (Garza 1-3) at Cincinnati
9-1
4-5
6-5
4-8
4-6
3-6
7-3
5-5
4-3
4-6
(Leake 0-1), 12:35
Houston (Keuchel 2-0) at San Diego
(Cashner 1-3), 3:40
N.Y. Mets (B.Colon 4-0) at Miami (Latos
0-3), 7:10
Washington (Zimmermann 1-2) at Atlanta
(A.Wood 1-0), 7:10
Pittsburgh (Cole 3-0) at Chicago Cubs
(Hendricks 0-0), 8:05
Philadelphia (Harang 2-1) at St. Louis
(C.Martinez 2-0), 8:15
Colorado (Lyles 2-1) at Arizona (Collmenter 1-3), 9:40
San Francisco (Vogelsong 0-1) at L.A.
Dodgers (Greinke 3-0), 10:10
Thursday’s Games
Philadelphia at St. Louis, 1:45
Cincinnati at Atlanta, 7:10
Washington at N.Y. Mets, 7:10
MATT YORK AP
Josh Hamilton is back with the Texas Rangers after a tumultuous two-plus seasons with the Los Angeles Angels.
Angels drop the
ball with Hamilton
BY BILL PLASCHKE
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES
ROUNDUP
AL: ROYALS SCORE 6
TO OVERTAKE INDIANS
CLEVELAND
Kendrys Morales’ threerun homer capped a sixrun seventh inning and
the Kansas City Royals
beat the Cleveland Indians 11-5 on Tuesday night.
Kansas City’s big inning
came after Cleveland had
taken a 5-3 lead on Brandon Moss’ three-run
homer in the sixth.
Alcides Escobar’s tworun double off Scott Atchison (0-1) tied the game.
Escobar scored the goahead run from second on
Mike Moustakas’ infield
hit and Morales later hit
his third homer of the
season.
Yankees 4, Rays 2: The
revelation that ace Masahiro Tanaka will be out at
least a month because of a
mild forearm strain and
right wrist tendinitis overshadowed host New York
Yankees’ victory over
Tampa Bay.
Blue Jays 11, Red Sox 8:
Jose Bautista had an RBI
in Toronto’s five-run third
inning, another in a threerun fourth and then added
a homer to help host Toronto beat Boston and
snap a four-game losing
streak.
Mariners 2, Rangers 1:
J.A. Happ doubled his
season strikeout total with
nine in 62⁄3 innings, Rickie
Weeks homered and Seattle beat host Texas.
Twins 3, Tigers 2: Mike
Pelfrey turned in his second consecutive strong
start, Kurt Suzuki had two
hits and the go-ahead
single in the seventh inning, and host Minnesota
beat Detroit.
NL: REDS HIT 3
HOMERS TO TOP
BREWERS
CINCINNATI
Johnny Cueto gave up
three hits over eight innings during his latest
dominant performance
against the Milwaukee
Brewers, and Brandon
Phillips had a two-run
homer Tuesday night,
leading the Cincinnati
Reds to a 4-2 victory over
the worst team in the
majors.
Marlins 4, Mets 3: Michael Morse hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth
inning that sent host Miami past New York. It was
the Marlins’ first win
against the Mets this season in six tries. Miami has
won six of seven overall.
Nationals 13, Braves 12:
Dan Uggla drove in five
runs, three on a homer in
the ninth inning, to help
Washington rally from the
franchise’s biggest deficit
to beat host Atlanta and
snap a seven-game losing
streak.
Cubs 6, Pirates 2: Dexter
Fowler had three hits and
two RBIs, Travis Wood
tossed seven strong innings and host Chicago
won its fourth straight
with a victory over Pittsburgh.
It’s one thing to overpay
for aging first basemen or
stumbling outfielders, it’s
quite another to plunk
down about $60 million
for intolerance and insensitivity.
Yet, that’s what those
fallen Los Angeles Angels
did Monday in ridding
themselves of their demon
Josh Hamilton, shipping
him and his addiction
NOTEBOOK
Orioles to play White
Sox in closed stadium
In the news
NATIONALS’ SCHERZER
PREPARING FOR
RETURN
ATLANTA
Washington Nationals
ace Max Scherzer said he
might miss just one start
with a sprained right
thumb. Scherzer, who was
injured while batting last
week, had his turn against
Atlanta skipped on Tuesday night.
Arizona: Pitcher Archie
Bradley was hit in the face
by a line drive off the bat
of Colorado Rockies slugger Carlos Gonzalez but
avoided severe injury.
Los Angeles: Injury-prone
left fielder Carl Crawford
was placed on the 15-day
disabled list by the Los
Angeles Dodgers after an
MRI revealed a tear in his
right oblique.
Cincinnati: The Reds are
considering surgery for
Homer Bailey’s pitching
elbow, a significant setback to a team already
struggling with its staff.
Bailey was limited in
spring training while still
recovering from surgery
on the forearm near the
right elbow. He made two
starts and developed soreness in the elbow.
Manager Bryan Price
said Tuesday the club is
looking at several options,
including surgery. Bailey
went on the 15-day disabled list but will be sidelined for longer, even if
surgery isn’t chosen.
Bailey declined to comment on Tuesday. He is in
the second season of a
$105 million, six-year
contract.
Associated Press
problems back to the Texas Rangers while eating
nearly half of his $125
million contract just to get
him out of their sight.
Only the expensive
stench of Angels owner
Arte Moreno’s anger remains.
The saga that began
nearly three months ago
when Hamilton admitted a
relapse in his sobriety has
finally ended with the
slugger returning to a
place where he experienced his greatest support
and success. He was an
MVP in Texas, a five-time
All-Star, twice leading the
Rangers to the World
Series, and is thrilled to
again be among friends.
“I’m back here, I’m
back home,” said a clearly
relieved Hamilton at a
Associated Press
BALTIMORE
The Orioles will play the
Chicago White Sox on
Wednesday afternoon at
Camden Yards in a rare
Major League Baseball
game closed to the public,
a decision that followed
rioting in Baltimore.
The announcement of
the closed-doors game
came after the Orioles
postponed games against
Chicago on Monday and
Tuesday. The start of
Wednesday’s game was
moved up five hours to
2:05 p.m.
In addition, the Fridayto-Sunday series against
Tampa Bay was shifted
from Camden Yards to
Tropicana Field in St.
Petersburg, Fla., with
Baltimore remaining the
home team and batting
last.
Baltimore is off Thursday.
MLB said the postponed
games against the White
succumbed to the disease
again this winter and reported a relapse to Major
League Baseball, they
suddenly quit on him.
They cleaned out his
locker. They pulled his
souvenir merchandise
from their shelves. They
waited for baseball to kick
him to the curb, but when
that didn’t happen – he
was probably given a pass
because he reported the
relapse before failing a test
– they howled.
Yes, they became one of
the rare teams in sports
history to loudly complain
that one of their players
was not suspended.
“We understand that
he’s had struggles, and
obviously he’s still having
struggles, but the reality is
there’s accountability,”
Moreno said. “When you
make an agreement, you
need to stand up.”
Except, of course, when
your chronic illness knocks
you down.
news conference Monday
in Arlington, Texas. “I’m
going to give everything
I’ve got.”
Before giving the Angels
credit for generosity of
spirit for trading Hamilton
to his OK’d Corral, understand that Hamilton had a
no-trade clause in his
contract, and thus could
have, and probably would
have, halted a deal anywhere else.
And before praising the
Angels for making the best
of a bad situation, understand that they put themselves in this situation in
the first place.
Three years ago, they
signed Hamilton to that
giant five-year deal even
though they knew he had
Bill Plaschke is a sports
battled addiction his entire columnist for the Los
adult life. Yet, when he
Angeles Times.
Sox will be made up with a
doubleheader on May 28
at 4:05 p.m. Public
schools were shut on
Tuesday in Baltimore, and
the mayor imposed a 10
p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew.
Anaheim Angels: Manager Mike Scioscia believes
Josh Hamilton was
“wrong” not to express
remorse to his teammates
and missed a key chance
before departing Los Angeles to thank them for
their support throughout
his ordeal.
New York Yankees: Alex
Rodriguez was not in the
New York Yankees’ starting lineup against Tampa
Bay, putting on hold his
pursuit of tying Willie
Mays at 660 home runs.
Manager Joe Girardi said
he was giving the slugger
a day off after A-Rod
played third base the night
before.
Tampa Bay: The Rays
have added Xavier Cedeno to their 25-man roster,
a day after acquiring the
left-hander from the Los
Angeles Dodgers for cash.
Boston: The Red Sox
recalled outfielder Jackie
Bradley Jr. from Class
AAA Pawtucket and sent
right-hander Steven
Wright down to the International League.
Texas: Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland was
scratched from the starting lineup because of
tightness in his left elbow.
Adam Rosales replaced
Moreland at first base
Tuesday night against
Seattle.
Big fourth inning
dooms Knights
against Clippers
CLIPPERS 9, KNIGHTS 3 Wednesday’s box
score
Columbus
ab r
h
bi
Lindor, ss
Holt, cf
Walters, 1b
Urshela, dh
Ramsey, lf
Moore, c
Moncrief, rf
Rohlinger, 3b
Martinez, 2b
Totals
Charlotte
Johnson, 2b
Saladino, dh
Soto, 1b
Davidson, 3b
Tuiasosopo, rf
Thompson, cf
Coats, lf
Dowdy, c
L. Garcia, ss
Totals
Columbus
Charlotte
5
5
5
5
4
5
4
4
4
41 9
ab r
0
2
1
2
0
1
1
1
1
15
h
4
1
4
0
4
1
4
0
4
0
4
0
4
1
4
0
3
0
35 3
8
000 700 002 —
000 011 001 —
1
3
3
2
1
2
2
1
0
9
bi
1
2
2
2
0
1
0
0
1
2
0
2
1
0
1
2
0
0
3
9 15
3 8
0
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
2
1
E — Lindor 2, Dowdy. DP–COL: 1; CHA: 1.
LOB–COL: 8; CHA: 5. 2B–Walters, Johnson,
Coats. HR—Walters, Urshela, Coats.
SB–Moncrief. CS—Coats. PO—Coats.
Columbus
IP H R ER BB SO
Murata
Crockett
Swarzak
Charlotte
7.0
1.0
1.0
IP
6
0
2
H
Haviland
3.2 8
Casey
3.1 4
O. Garcia
2.0 3
WP-Swarzak, Haviland.
T-2:34. A-8,256.
2 2 0 4
0 0 0 1
1 1 0 2
R ER BB SO
7
0
2
2
0
2
1
0
1
3
5
1
BY PAT JAMES
[email protected]
Charlotte Knights manager Joel Skinner always
hopes his team can stave
off the “big inning.”
But on Wednesday
night, it was a seven-run
fourth inning by the Columbus Clippers that led
to the Knights’ 9-3 downfall at BB&T BallPark.
Clippers’ first baseman
Zach Walters started the
scoring onslaught for
Columbus (26-21) in the
top of the fourth inning
with a leadoff home run
over the wall in rightcenter. The Clippers
tacked on six more runs in
the inning on five hits and
an error, batting around
their order and knocking
Charlotte starting pitcher
ROBERT LAHSER [email protected]
Columbus’ Carlos Moncrief is safe under the tag of
Charlotte’s Micah Johnson at second base.
Shawn Haviland out of the
game after 3 2⁄3 innings.
The Knights got on the
board in the fifth inning,
as left fielder Jason Coats
continued his hot hitting
with a home run over the
wall in left-center.
WORTH MENTIONING
Charlotte left-hander
Jarrett Casey relieved
Harviland in the fourth
inning and pitched 3 2⁄3
scoreless innings, tallying
five strikeouts in the pro-
cess. The appearance was
his 14th of the season and
tenth without surrendering at least one run.
QUOTE
“They scored seven
runs in the fourth inning
and that set the tone for
the game.” –Knights manager Joel Skinner.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The teams play the
fourth game of the series
Thursday at 7:05 p.m.
Scoreboard
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
Pacquiao
to supporters:
‘I’m going to win’
LAS VEGAS
Manny Pacquiao worried about the punching
power of Miguel Cotto. He
knew Juan Manuel Marquez was a slick counter
puncher and wondered
how he’d fare against a
fighter the caliber of Oscar De La Hoya.
He has no such worries
about Floyd Mayweather
Jr. on the eve of boxing’s
richest fight of all time.
“I cannot say he is that
difficult an opponent,”
Pacquiao said Tuesday.
“My confidence right now
is different than the other
fights I had. I feel excited;
this is it. I have to prove
something.”
Pacquiao oozed confidence at a rally attended
by about 1,000 people at
the Mandalay Bay hotel.
“I know I’m going to
win the fight in the ring,”
he told the crowd. “So
relax.”
Mayweather was greeted by a much bigger
crowd at the MGM Grand,
where Saturday’s night
welterweight title fight
will play out.
Mayweather said Pacquiao will be trying the
same game plan 47 others
have failed to implement.
“Everybody’s game plan
is to come forward and
throw lots of punches,”
Mayweather said. “It
hasn’t worked in 19 years
and 47 fights.”
• Gene Fullmer, a former middleweight champion and member of the
International Boxing Hall
of Fame whose 55 victories included two over
Sugar Ray Robinson, died
Monday, his nephew said.
He was 83.
Fullmer suffered from
Alzheimer’s and dementia
for years and died while
fighting a bacterial infection, nephew Larry
Fullmer said.
Fullmer turned pro in
1951 and defeated Robinson in 1957 to win the
middleweight title. The
two fought four times,
with Fullmer going 2-1-1.
College basketball
Gibbs leaving
Seton Hall
Point guard and leading
scorer Sterling Gibbs is
leaving Seton Hall after
two seasons. Coach Kevin
Willard said Gibbs will
pursue his master’s degree
at another school. Gibbs
was third in the Big East
in scoring at 16.7 points
and fifth in assists with
3.8. He led the league in
3-point shooting at nearly
45 percent, sixth in the
country.
HOCKEY
AHL
Playoff Schedule
(Best-of-5; x-if necessary)
CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS
Hartford vs. Providence
Saturday: Providence 2, Hartford 1
Sunday: Providence 2, Hartford 1, 3OT
x-Tuesday: at Providence, late
x-May 1: at Hartford, 7 Manchester vs.
Portland
Saturday: Manchester 6, Portland 2
Sunday: Portland 3, Manchester 2
x-April 30: at Portland, 7
x-May 2: at Manchester, 7 Worcester vs.
Hershey
Saturday: Hershey 3, Worcester 1, late
Wednesday: at Hershey, 7
x-May 1: at Hershey, 7
x-May 3: at Hershey, 5 W-B/Scranton vs.
Syracuse
Saturday: W-B/Scranton 4, Syracuse 0
Wednesday: at Syracuse, 7
x-April 30: at Syracuse, 7
x-May 2: at W-B/Scranton, 7:05 Toronto
vs. Grand Rapids
Saturday: Toronto 7, Grand Rapids 4
Sunday: Toronto 5, Grand Rapids 2
Wednesday: at Grand Rapids, 7
x-May 2: at Grand Rapids, 7
x-May 3: at Grand Rapids, 5 Chicago vs.
Utica
Wednesday: at Utica, 7
x-May 1: at Utica, 7
x-May 2: at Utica, 7 Texas vs. Rockford
Saturday: Rockford 4, Texas 1
Wednesday: at Rockford, 8
x-May 1: at Rockford, 8
x-May 2: at Rockford, 8 Oklahoma City
vs. San Antonio
Saturday: Oklahoma City 4, Sam Antonio 3
Wednesday: at San Antonio, 8
x-May 1: at San Antonio, 8:30
x-May 2: at San Antonio, 8
GOLF
LOCAL
ACC Men's Golf Championship
Old North State Club
New London, N.C.
Final results
Georgia Tech....................284-279-28--845*
Clemson ...........................281-283-281--845
Florida State ....................282-282-282--846
Virginia.............................283-281-289--853
North Carolina .................293-282-279--854
Virginia Tech....................284-281-291--856
Louisville..........................290-288-288--866
Wake Forest .....................299-285-285--869
N.C. State.........................303-289-292--884
Duke .................................297-299-290--886
Notre Dame......................303-305-303--911
Boston College.................303-311-299--913
*--Won in a playoff Individuals
Trevor Cone, Virginia Tech ...68-66-71--205
Robin Sciot-Siegrist, Louisville
................................................69-69-67--205
Anders Albertson, Georgia Tech
................................................67-69-69--205
Ollie Schniederjans, Georgia Tech
................................................71-67-69--207
Henry Do, North Carolina......70-69-69--208
Jack Maguire, Florida State...72-66-70--208
Denny McCarthy, Virginia......69-70-70--209
Billy Kennerly, Clemson.........73-66-70--209
Miller Capps, Clemson ...........69-71-71--211
Scott Vincent, Virginia Tech .69-71-72--212
Davis Womble, Wake Forest..73-72-68--213
Austin Langdale, Clemson .....71-73-69--213
Hank Lebioda, Florida State..68-73-72--213
Hole-in-One
Don Jessup aced the 80-yard, No. 10
using a pitching wedge at Carmel Country
Club. It was his second hole-in-one.
SOCCER
USL PRO
EASTERN CONFERENCE
W
L T GF GA Pts
Richmond
4 0 2 11 3 14
Rochester
4 0 2 9 2 14
Charleston
4 0 1 11 6 13
Louisville
2 0 3 7 3 9
Pittsburgh
2 1 2 13 7 8
St. Louis
2 2 1 5 5 7
Wilmington
1 2 2 7 8 5
New York II
1 3 2 5 8 5
Harrisburg
1 2 1 5 9 4
Toronto II
1 3 1 7 13 4
Charlotte
0 2 2 4 8 2
Montreal
0 4 0 1 8 0
NOTE: Three points for a victory, one for a
draw. Saturday’s Games
Richmond 1, Montreal 0
Pittsburgh 5, Toronto 1
Louisville 2, Tulsa 0
St. Louis 2, Oklahoma City 1 Sunday’s
Games
Rochester 2, New York 0
Charleston 2, Wilmington 1 Monday’s
Games
No games scheduled Tuesday’s Games
No games scheduled
BASEBALL
COLLEGES
Charlotte 9,
Gardner Webb 5
GWU
002000 012 — 5 6 3
UNCC
014021 010 — 9 13 4
WP–Jeremy Walker. LP–Matt Horkey.
HIGH SCHOOLS
BASEBALL
Metrolina Christian 9,
Hickory Grove 0
HGC
000000 0 — 0 4 0
MCA
340101 X — 9 12 2
Pro basketball
Griner accepts
counseling
Phoenix Mercury star
Brittney Griner has entered into a diversion
agreement after being
arrested on suspicion of
assault following a fight
last week with her fiancee,
fellow WNBA player Glory
Johnson.
As part of the agreement in Goodyear (Ariz.)
Municipal Court, Griner
will plead guilty to disorderly conduct and must
attend 26 weeks of domestic violence counseling. All charges will be
dismissed if she completes
her counseling.
Griner and Johnson,
who plays for the Tulsa
Shock, were both charged
with assault by recklessly
causing physical injuries
and disorderly conduct
after an argument at the
home that the couple
bought two days earlier
turned physical.
— NEWS SERVICES
WP–Spencer Turner. LP–Kinser.
Charlotte Christian 2,
Charlotte Latin 0
CC
001010 2 — 4 10 2
CLS
000000 0 — 0 2 1
WP–Jackson Kowar (8-0). LP–Ed Ferguson.
Leading hitters–CC: Davis Waldrop (2-3,
2B, HR, RBI), Josh Hall (4-4), Reece Hampton (2-4, RBI), Dillon Carpenter (1-4, 2B,
RBI); CLS: Chris Williams (1-3), Bennett
Smith (1-2).
Records- CC: 22-3, 12-0; CLS: 4-14,
2-11.
Providence Day 1, Cannon 0
CS
000000 0 — 0 3 0
PDS
001000 X — 1 3 3
WP–Holtzer. LP–Lippencott. Leading
hitters–CS: Amoroso (2-2), Lippincott
(1-2); PDS: Burgoyne (1-2), Halligan (1-2),
Peterson (1-2).
Ardrey Kell 8,
Charlotte Catholic 3
CC
030000 0 — 3 1 2
AK
230030 X — 8 6 5
WP–Sterling Strickland. LP–Carrie Eberle.
Leading hitters–CC: Hannah Shaul (1-3,
RBI); AK: Allie Kennedy (3-4, 2B, 3 RBIs),
Haley Peebles (1-3, 3B, RBI).
Carmel Christian 9,
Victory Christian 2
VC
100000 1 — 2 2 7
CC
201402 X — 9 2 4
WP–Matt Alexander. LP–Elliot Curtis.
Also
Myers Park 18, Garinger 4
Late Monday
Lake Norman 13, Davie Co. 7
BOYS’ LACROSSE
Charlotte Latin 13,
Charlotte Country Day 8
CLS: Jackson Monin 5, Owen Armstrong 5,
Carson Song 2, Hunter Sheridan. CCDS:
Redmond Teague 4, Peter Pittroff 3, Julian
Taylor.
GIRLS’ LACROSSE
Charlotte Country Day 13,
Charlotte Latin 3
CCDS: Lucy Pedlow 5, Julia Loesch 2, Graham McIntosh 2, Byers Whitman, Olivia
Finby, Natalee Palmer, Braden McPhail.
CLS: Grayce Anderson, Catherine Crigler,
Melanie Gamble.
GIRLS’ SOCCER
Northside Christian 2,
United Faith 1
NSC: Christiana McLean, Sanaa McLendon.
UF: Hope Kiss. Hough 9, A.L. Brown 0
HHS: Anna Roach 2, Ashley Johnson, Sarah
Steedman, Emmily Cowie, Ashlynn Serepca,
Alex Denny, Emily Vice, McKenzee Johnson.
Shutout: Stephanie Westaway, Katie Easley. Charlotte Latin 5,
Charlotte Country Day 1
Late Monday
East Meck 9, Rocky River 1
EM: Sophie Sipprell 5, Stephanie Marvin,
Nathalie Foster, Chloe Wells, Mackenzie
Long. RR: Dana Ansley.
Alexander Central 5,
Statesville 1
SOFTBALL
Charlotte Country Day 9,
Charlotte Latin 4
CLS
100002 1 — 4 8 3
CCDS
014103 X — 9 12 3
Hough 5,
North Mecklenburg 0
HHS
NMHS
120020 0 — 5
000000 0 — 0
WP–Katrina Cassel. LP–Katie Stokes.
Leading hitters–HHS: Brescia (2-3, RBI),
Jones (1-4, 2 RBIs), Stamey (1-3); NM:
Stokes (1-3).
Alexander Central 14,
North Iredell 0
AC
00120(11) — 14 14 0
NI
000 000 — 0 7 3
WP–Kiana Millsaps (21-0). LP–Lacey Fox.
Leading hitters–AC: Tianna Batts (3-4,
RBI), Kiana Millsaps (2-5, 2 RBIs), Caroline
Maltba (3-4, 2 RBIS), Chelsea Krider (2-4,
2B, 3 RBIs); NI: Lacey Fox (2-3), Addison
York (2-2).
Jay M Robinson 7,
Mallard Creek 0
JMR
411000 1 — 7 9 1
MCHS
000000 0 — 0 2 1
WP–Romine.LP–Alexander. Leading
hitters–JMR: Romine (2-4, 3B, HR), Lemasters (2-3, RBI); MCHS: Ramold (1-2).
Metrolina Christian 9,
Gaston Christian 7
GCS
001410 0 — 7 8 1
MCA
001107 X — 9 9 2
WP–Logan Bjorson. LP–Madison Ramsey.
Leading hitters–GCS: Cobb (1-4, 3B),
Crenshaw (2-4), Freeman (2-4); MCA: Macy
Bjorson (2-4), Logan Bjorson (2-4, 2B),
Sophie Ivery (3-3).
Late Monday
Lincoln Charter 7,
Cherryville 0
CHS
000000 0 — 0
LCS
301030 0 — 7
GOLF
Late Monday
At Boone GC
South Caldwell 311, St. Stephens 331,
Patton 331, Hickory 332, Hibriten 334,
Watauga 345, Fred T. Foard 381.
Top Individuals: Austin Harrill (HICK) 69,
Bradu Childers (SC) 74, Clay Bollinger (SC)
74, Austin Northern (W) 74, Bryce Hull (SS)
74, Thomas Messenheimer (P) 77, Spencer
Ramseur (SS) 77, Dawson Walker (HIBR)
79, McCally Renfro (SC) 80, Jordan Heavner
(SS) 80.
TENNIS
Charlotte Country Day 9,
Charlotte Latin 0
Singles: Kavir Kumar d. Nick Bolger 6-1,
6-0; Evan Cater d. Davis Collins 6-0, 6-1;
Luke McClelland d. Joth Gass 6-0, 6-0;
Naveen Paul d. Chip Griffin 6-2, 6-0; Jackson Motchar d. Bo Bernhardt 6-2, 6-1;
Maylin Van Cleef d. Stephen Gillis 6-0, 6-4.
Doubles: Kumar/McClelland d. Bolger/Gass
8-3; Cater/Paul d. Collins/Griffin 8-6;
Motchar/Khrujekar d. Bernhardt/Gillis 8-1.
Providence Day 9, Cannon 0
Singles: Peter Buonanno d. Brandon Greer
6-2, 6-0; Alex Heintze d. Jack Galida 6-0,
6-0; Jake Comisar d. Jack Gularson 6-0,
6-1; Bo Lovett d. Alec Eastob 6-0, 6-0;
Evan Nalibotsky d. Matthew Chaiken 6-0,
6-1; Rohan Romani d. Kesahv Shah 6-0,
6-0.
Doubles: Alex Brea/Alex Comisar d. Greer/
Galida 8-1; DJ Auger/Jonathan Greenfield d
Danny Kungl/Gularson 8-2; Heintse/Adhish
Khanna d. Jacob Diskin/Clay McGuire 8-0.
Myers Park 8,
Mallard Creek 1
Singles: Flynn Stover (MP) d. Suraj Pendyala 6-1, 6-2; Koby Frank (MP) d. Evan
Long 6-3, 6-2; Chris Williams (MP) d. Nikhil
Arora 7-5, 6-1; Daniel ROdgers (MC) d.
Jack Pronier 6-2, 4-6 1-0(10-8); Charlie
Fox (MP) d. Christian James 6-0, 6-1; Keenan Caddell (MP) d. Brandon Pham 6-0,
6-1.
Doubles: Frank/Fox (MP) d. Pendyala/
Rodgers 10-1; Williams/Caddell (MP) d.
Long/Arora 10-6; Agnew/Handelsman (MP)
d. Comstock/Hernandez 10-1.
Clover 6, York 0
Singles: Justin White d. Matthew Goforth
6-0, 6-0; Patrick Smith d. Noah Arnold 6-0,
6-0; Rob Long d. Jacob Southard 6-0, 6-0;
Garrett Smith d. Juwan Barnett 6-0, 6-0;
Holden McGil d. Tyler Dean 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles: Scobie/Love d. Montgomery/
Gladden 6-0, 6-0.
Covenant Day 9,
Charlotte Christian 0
Singles: Allan Lock d. Destin Cassier 6-2,
6-0; Will Ockerman d. Josh Walker 6-1,
7-5; Jacob Wall d. Adam Lewis 6-0, 6-0;
Pierce Ormond d. Sam Carlton 6-2, 6-2;
Caleb Keaton d. Mac Hamilton 6-1, 6-1;
Stewart Kepper d. Garrett Weaver 7-6(4),
6-3
Doubles: Keaton/D. Riggins d. Cassier/
Walker 8-3; Wall/S. Daniels d. Hamilton/
Lewis 8-0; G. Moseley/Kepper d. Carlton/
Weaver 8-2.
W-S Reynolds 5, Providence 1
Singles: Bennett Crane (RJR) d. Ethan
Scheper 6-1, 6-1; Nate Rowell (RJR) d.
Chinmay Kulkarni 6-1, 6-1; Huntley Allen
(RJR) d. Patrick Meehan 6-3, 6-0; Jorge
Estrada (RJR) d. Joshua Sun 6-1, 6-1;
Aaron Cooper (RJR) d. Preston Pegram 6-2,
6-3; Jup Patel (P) d. Graham Young 4-6,
6-4, 1-0(8).
Kings Mountain 5, Concord 4
Singles: Reid O’Brien (C) d. Dylan Ervin
6-3, 6-4; Brandon Marchant (C) d. Gibson
Conner 6-2, 6-3; Cameron Mikesh (C) d.
Robey Baker 6-0, 6-1; Alex Lovelace (KM)
d. Nick Lozier 7-6(7-5), 6-4; Dalton Cash
(KM) d. Will Patten 6-0, 7-6(9-7); Bailey
Goodson (KM) d. Cole Johnson 6-2, 5-7,
1-0(7).
Doubles: O’Brien/Marchant (C) d. Ervin/
Conner 10-5; Baker/Cash (KM) d. Mikesh/
Lozier 10-8; Lovelace/Goodson (KM) d.
Johnson/Matt Twigger 10-7.
BASKETBALL
NBA
Summaries
Late Monday
Nets 120, Hawks 115 (OT)
ATLANTA (115)—Carroll 8-15 0-0 20,
Millsap 7-14 1-2 16, Horford 8-13 1-2 17,
Teague 7-16 5-8 20, Korver 6-16 0-0 16,
Antic 2-4 0-0 6, Bazemore 1-2 0-0 2,
Schroder 4-9 2-2 10, Scott 3-6 1-1 8.
Totals 46-95 10-15 115.
BROOKLYN (120)—Johnson 5-16 5-5
17, Young 5-11 0-1 10, Lopez 11-19 4-6
26, Williams 13-25 2-2 35, Bogdanovic
6-12 0-0 15, Jack 2-7 0-0 4, Anderson 4-6
1-3 11, Plumlee 0-0 2-4 2. Totals 46-96
14-21 120.
Atlanta
24 27 31 22 11 — 115
Brooklyn
25 20 29 30 16 — 120
3-Point Goals—Atlanta 13-33 (Carroll 4-5,
Korver 4-13, Antic 2-3, Scott 1-2, Teague
1-4, Millsap 1-4, Bazemore 0-1, Schroder
0-1), Brooklyn 14-31 (Williams 7-11, Bogdanovic 3-6, Anderson 2-3, Johnson 2-6,
Young 0-1, Jack 0-4). Fouled Out—None.
Rebounds—Atlanta 62 (Millsap 12), Brooklyn 49 (Lopez 10). Assists—Atlanta 27
(Teague 11), Brooklyn 25 (Williams 7).
Fouls—Atlanta 19, Brooklyn 19. A—17,732.
Bucks 94, Bulls 88
MILWAUKEE (94)—Antetokounmpo
5-12 1-1 11, Ilyasova 2-11 0-0 6, Pachulia
4-9 1-1 9, Carter-Williams 10-15 2-2 22,
Middleton 8-16 3-3 21, Dudley 1-4 2-2 5,
Henson 4-8 0-0 8, Mayo 2-8 5-5 10, Bayless 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 36-85 16-16 94.
CHICAGO (88)—Dunleavy 0-3 0-0 0,
Gasol 9-15 7-9 25, Noah 5-9 0-2 10, Rose
5-20 3-4 13, Butler 5-21 8-9 20, Gibson
4-8 4-5 12, Hinrich 0-1 0-0 0, Mirotic 1-6
0-0 3, Brooks 2-4 0-0 5, Snell 0-3 0-0 0.
Totals 31-90 22-29 88.
Milwaukee
23 29 24 18 — 94
Chicago
22 27 21 18 — 88
3-Point Goals—Milwaukee 6-16 (Middleton
2-4, Ilyasova 2-6, Dudley 1-2, Mayo 1-3,
Carter-Williams 0-1), Chicago 4-22 (Butler
2-4, Brooks 1-2, Mirotic 1-4, Dunleavy 0-2,
Snell 0-3, Rose 0-7). Fouled Out—None.
Rebounds—Milwaukee 55 (Henson 14),
Chicago 60 (Noah 13). Assists—Milwaukee
21 (Carter-Williams 9), Chicago 22 (Noah,
Butler 6). Fouls—Milwaukee 24, Chicago
19. Technicals—Mayo, Butler. A—21,814.
Trail Blazers 99, Grizzlies 92
MEMPHIS (92)—Allen 1-2 2-2 4, Randolph 6-20 0-0 12, Gasol 7-16 7-8 21,
Calathes 4-10 0-0 12, Lee 8-11 2-2 19,
Udrih 5-10 2-2 13, Je.Green 3-10 0-0 7,
Koufos 1-1 0-0 2, Carter 1-2 0-0 2, Leuer
0-0 0-0 0. Totals 36-82 13-14 92.
PORTLAND (99)—Batum 3-13 4-6 12,
Aldridge 6-22 6-6 18, Lopez 2-4 2-2 6, Lillard 12-23 7-7 32, Afflalo 0-5 0-0 0,
McCollum 8-12 0-0 18, Leonard 5-6 0-0
13, Blake 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 36-87 19-21
99.
Memphis
22 26 27 17 — 92
Portland
27 28 13 31 — 99
3-Point Goals—Memphis 7-14 (Calathes
4-5, Je.Green 1-1, Udrih 1-2, Lee 1-3, Randolph 0-1, Gasol 0-1, Allen 0-1), Portland
8-25 (Leonard 3-3, McCollum 2-2, Batum
2-8, Lillard 1-5, Afflalo 0-2, Blake 0-2,
Aldridge 0-3). Fouled Out—None.
Rebounds—Memphis 45 (Allen 10), Portland 55 (Batum, Leonard 13).
Assists—Memphis 19 (Gasol 6), Portland
18 (Lillard 7). Fouls—Memphis 20, Portland
13. A—19,541.
HOCKEY
NHL
Stanley Cup playoffs
(All series best-of-7; x-if necessary)
First round
Eastern Conference
Tampa Bay vs. Detroit
(Series tied 3-3)
Game 1: Detroit 3, Tampa Bay 2
Game 2: Tampa Bay 5, Detroit 1
Game 3: Detroit 3, Tampa Bay 0
Game 4: Tampa Bay 3, Detroit 2 (OT)
Game 5: Detroit 4, Tampa Bay 0
Monday: Tampa Bay 5, Detroit 2
Wednesday: at Tampa Bay, 7:30
The New York Rangers, Montreal and Washington already have advanced to the second
round.
Washington clinched its first-round series
Monday night against the New York Islanders with a 2-1 victory. Washington won
the series 4-3. Second round
Eastern Conference
N.Y. Rangers vs. Washington
Thursday: at New York, 7:30
Saturday: at New York, 12:30
Monday: at Washington, 7:30
May 6: at Washington, 7:30
x-May 8: at New York, 7
x-May 10: at Washington, TBA
x-May 12 or 13: at New York, TBA
Montreal will play the winner of the Tampa
Bay-Detroit series.
Western Conference
Chicago vs. Minnesota
Friday: at Chicago, 9:30
Sunday: at Chicago, 8:30
May 5: at Minnesota, 8
May 7: at Minnesota, 9:30
x-May 9: at Chicago, TBA
x-May 11: at Minnesota,TBA
x-May 13: at Chicago, TBA
Anaheim vs. Calgary
Thursday: at Anaheim, 10
Sunday: at Anaheim, 10
May 5 or 6: at Calgary, 9:30
May 8: at Calgary, 9:30
x-May 10: at Anaheim, TBA
x-May 12: at Calgary, TBA
x-May 14: at Anaheim, TBA
BASEBALL
MAJOR LEAGUES
Leaders
Through Monday’s games
American League
AB
R
H Pct.
Jones Bal
72
17
29 .403
Iglesias Det
63
6
25 .397
Cabrera Det
72
10
27 .375
Travis Tor
68
15
25 .368
Cain KC
69
14
25 .362
Fielder Tex
76
7
27 .355
Davis Oak
58
11
20 .345
Vogt Oak
58
10
20 .345
Moustakas KC
76
16
26 .342
Donaldson Tor
78
15
26 .333
RUNS: AJones, Bal, 17; Moustakas, KC, 16;
Trout, LA, 16; Donaldson, Tor, 15; Fuld,
Oak, 15; Kinsler, Det, 15; Travis, Tor, 15.
RBI: NCruz, Sea, 21; AJones, Bal, 18; HRamirez, Boston, 18; Teixeira, NY, 18; Travis,
Tor, 18; Cespedes, Det, 16; Abreu, Chi, 14;
Donaldson, Tor, 14; JMartinez, Det, 14;
Vogt, Oak, 14.
HITS: AJones, Bal, 29; Altuve, Hou, 27;
MiCabrera, Det, 27; Fielder, Tex, 27;
Donaldson, Tor, 26; Moustakas, KC, 26;
BButler, Oak, 25; Cain, KC, 25; JIglesias,
Det, 25; Travis, Tor, 25.
DOUBLES: Cano, Sea, 8; Longoria, TB, 7;
Cain, KC, 6; Cespedes, Det, 6; Donaldson,
Tor, 6; Dozier, Min, 6; Pompey, Tor, 6;
Raburn, Cle, 6; Travis, Tor, 6.
TRIPLES: Orlando, KC, 5; Fuld, Oak, 3;
ACabrera, TB, 2; 37 tied at 1.
HOME RUNS: NCruz, Sea, 9; HRamirez,
Boston, 8; Teixeira, NY, 8; Travis, Tor, 6;
Abreu, Chi, 5; AJones, Bal, 5; JMartinez,
Det, 5; ARodriguez, NY, 5; Valbuena, Hou,
5.
STOLEN BASES: Altuve, Hou, 7; Springer,
Hou, 7; RDavis, Det, 6; Marisnick, Hou, 6;
LMartin, Tex, 6; 7 tied at 5.
PITCHING: Simon, Det, 4-0; Pineda, NY,
3-0; McHugh, Hou, 3-0; FHernandez, Sea,
3-0; Betances, NY, 3-0; Buehrle, Tor, 3-1;
Greene, Det, 3-1; Archer, TB, 3-2.
ERA: NMartinez, Tex, 0.35; Keuchel, Hou,
0.62; Archer, TB, 0.84; Bauer, Cle, 0.95;
Kazmir, Oak, 0.99; FHernandez, Sea, 1.61;
Odorizzi, TB, 1.65; Simon, Det, 1.65.
STRIKEOUTS: Archer, TB, 37; Kluber, Cle,
36; FHernandez, Sea, 32; Kazmir, Oak, 30;
Price, Det, 29; Buchholz, Boston, 29; JKelly,
Boston, 28.
SAVES: AMiller, NY, 8; Soria, Det, 8;
Street, LA, 7; Boxberger, TB, 5; Rodney,
Sea, 5; Perkins, Min, 5; 5 tied at 4.
National League
AB
R
H Pct.
LeMahieu Col
65
5
27 .415
Gordon Mia
86
10
34 .395
Gonzalez LAD
76
18
29 .382
Carpenter StL
75
15
28 .373
Holliday StL
55
7
20 .364
Pagan SF
80
6
28 .350
Kemp SD
84
16
29 .345
Rizzo ChC
61
15
21 .344
Galvis Phi
64
7
22 .344
Dickerson Col
68
13
23 .338
RUNS: AGonzalez, LA, 18; Myers, SD, 17;
Kemp, SD, 16; MCarpenter, StL, 15; Frazier,
Cin, 15; Hechavarria, Mia, 15; Rizzo, Chi,
15.
RBI: AGonzalez, LA, 18; Stanton, Mia, 17;
Goldschmidt, Ari, 16; Hechavarria, Mia, 16;
Dickerson, Col, 15; Votto, Cin, 15; Frazier,
Cin, 14; Kemp, SD, 14; DanMurphy, NY, 14;
Myers, SD, 14.
HITS: DGordon, Mia, 34; AGonzalez, LA,
29; Kemp, SD, 29; MCarpenter, StL, 28;
Pagan, SF, 28; LeMahieu, Col, 27; Aoki, SF,
25; Lagares, NY, 25; Myers, SD, 25.
DOUBLES: MCarpenter, StL, 11; Tulowitzki,
Col, 10; AGonzalez, LA, 9; DeNorris, SD, 9;
Arenado, Col, 8; NWalker, Pit, 8; 5 tied at
7.
TRIPLES: Revere, Phi, 3; Blackmon, Col, 2;
GBlanco, SF, 2; Fowler, Chi, 2; Hamilton,
Cin, 2; OHerrera, Phi, 2; Kemp, SD, 2;
Trumbo, Ari, 2; Young Jr, Atl, 2.
HOME RUNS: AGonzalez, LA, 7; Votto, Cin,
6; Dickerson, Col, 5; Frazier, Cin, 5;
Goldschmidt, Ari, 5; Guerrero, LA, 5; Harper, Wash, 5; Marte, Pit, 5; Stanton, Mia, 5;
Upton, SD, 5.
STOLEN BASES: Hamilton, Cin, 13; DGordon, Mia, 8; Polanco, Pit, 7; Aoki, SF, 6;
Fowler, Chi, 5; Revere, Phi, 5; Rizzo, Chi, 5.
PITCHING: Harvey, NY, 4-0; BColon, NY,
4-0; McCarthy, LA, 3-0; Cole, Pit, 3-0;
Greinke, LA, 3-0; Wacha, StL, 3-0; SMiller,
Atl, 3-0; Benoit, SD, 3-1; Arrieta, Chi, 3-1.
TRANSACTIONS
BASEBALL
American League
NEW YORK: Recalled RHP Chase Whitley
from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (IL). Optioned
INF Gregorio Petit to Scranton/WilkesBarre. National League
WASHINGTON: Recalled RHP A.J. Cole
from Syracuse (IL). Optioned RHP Rafael
Martin to Syracuse.
FOOTBALL
NFL
BUFFALO: Exercised their fifth-year option
on CB Stephon Gilmore.
CINCINNATI: Exercised their fifth-year
options on CB Dre Kirkpatrick and G Kevin
Zeitler.
DENVER: Waived LB Quanterus Smith.
5B
6B
Classified
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
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CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
Classified
7B
Amusements
8B
HOROSCOPES
HAPPY BIRTHDAY This year you
often feel as if you have to cater to
a loved one who might be very
emotional. You often have a
strong reaction to that type of
behavior. Your creativity will tend
to save the day and find solutions.
Through August, you will be happiest close to home.
ARIES (March 21-April 19)
EEE What you choose to do is
likely to shake up the status quo,
but it might not draw the response
you desire.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
EEEE A caring gesture will
warm up emotional waters.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
EEEE Listen to a loved one
before you make a decision.
CANCER (June 21-July 22)
EEEE Your ability to have a
discussion despite someone’s
manipulation and some excess
anger might surprise even you.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)
EEEEE Someone who cares a
lot about you might not be able to
express it.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
EEEE Pressure builds around a
decision to break past barriers.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) EEE
You might not realize how important you are to someone.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
EEEE Your understanding of
others easily could pay off.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec.
21) EEE You could feel as if a
boss or an associate tends to be
overbearing. You might want to
run away.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
EEE Reach out to someone you
care about.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
EEEE A family member encourages you to spend. Ask yourself
why.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)
EEEE Your emotional mood
could evoke a strong reaction from
someone who is often too much in
his or her own head. Bypass this
person and get to the root of the
problem.
— JACQUELINE BIGAR, KING
FEATURES SYNDICATE
BRIDGE
A friend of mine who is a professional photographer says that
the best photos are generally attempted with the lens cap still on
the camera.
In bridge games – especially
with experienced, capable players
– most errors stem from a loss of
focus. In today’s deal, NorthSouth managed to stop at three
clubs with their 24 high-card
points, and West led the K-A of
spades. When East echoed with
seven and deuce, West continued
with the jack.
Declarer ruffed with dummy’s
ten of trumps, but East overruffed
with the jack and led a diamond.
West took the ace,exiting with a
diamond, and South was left with
a heart loser and went down one.
South simply let his brain get
out of focus. Instead of ruffing the
third spade and risking an overruff, he must pitch a heart from
dummy.
If West shifts to a heart, South
wins with the ace, draws trumps
and forces out the ace of diamonds. He can win the heart return, discard dummy’s last heart
on a high diamond and claim.
— FRANK STEWART, TRIBUNE
MEDIA SERVICES
The Hand
South dealer, both vulnerable
North
♠ Q3
♥ A942
♦ J3
♣ Q 10 8 5 3
West
East
♠ AKJ865
♠ 72
♥ Q 10 3
♥ J86
♦ A 10 4
♦ 97652
♣ 7
♣ J96
South
♠ 10 9 4
♥ K75
♦ KQ8
♣ AK42
South
West
North
East
All Pass
1♣
2♠
3♣
Opening lead – ♠ K
ON THIS DATE
Associated Press
BIRTHDAYS
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is 61.
Actress Kate Mulgrew is 60. Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis is 58. Actress
Michelle Pfeiffer is 57. Actress Uma
Thurman is 45.
TODAY IN HISTORY
In 1945, during World War II,
American soldiers liberated the
Dachau concentration camp.
In 2011, Prince William and Kate
Middleton were married at
London’s Westminster Abbey.
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
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CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
Amusements
9B
ASK AMY
Thank-you note
is for wrong gift
AMY DICKINSON
Chicago Tribune
Dear Amy: We received a
very nice thank-you note from a
bride whose wedding we attended – but she thanked us for
the wrong gift!
What should we do?
– Confused
Dear Confused: Email, call
or send the bride a message on
Facebook. Tell her, “We were
so happy to attend your wedding; it was lovely. Today we
received your very nice thankyou note for our gift and though
we appreciate the gratitude, we
worry that there was a mix-up!
You thanked us for the coffee
maker, but we gave you two
champagne flutes from your gift
registry. Somehow, the cards
must have gotten switched.”
Ask Amy: [email protected];
Ask Amy, Chicago Tribune,
TT500, 435 N. Michigan Ave.,
Chicago, IL 60622.
IN MY OPINION
Reach out to
difficult relative
BY BILLY GRAHAM
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
Q: What’s the best way to deal
with difficult people? he’s coming to visit us in a few weeks,
and I honestly dread it.
A: While we may be tempted
to avoid people who are hard to
get along with, it’s not always
possible, nor does God want us
to. He wants us to love others,
even those who aren’t lovable.
What does this mean as far as
your sister is concerned? First,
pray for her, asking God not
only to make her less difficult,
but also to open her heart and
mind to Jesus Christ. Then ask
God to help you not react to
whatever she says or does in
anger or with sharp words. Instead, go out of your way to be
kind to her, and to express an
interest in what’s happening in
her life.
Q.
A.
Billy Graham: Billy Graham
Evangelistic Association, P.O.
Box 1270, Charlotte, NC 28201.
Plan your day
10B
PROTOTYPE
CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
LUCKY NUMBERS
POWERBALL
Saturday’s drawing worth $110
million
24 29 38 48 52 32
Winner: None
Next draw: Today, $121 million
MEGA MILLIONS
Tuesday’s drawing worth $173
million
10 12
21 29 65 10
Next draw: Friday
The Ethan Uslan Show
DR. JOHN AND
THE NITE TRIPPERS
Petra’s Piano Bar and Cabaret, 1919 Commonwealth Ave.
Knight Theater, 430 S. Tryon St.
Tuesday, 9 p.m. Uslan, based in Charlotte, is a ragtime/jazz/silent
film pianist who is a three-time winner of the World Championship
Old-Time Piano Playing Contest. He’s performed his music all over
America and in Britain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and in
Cyberspace, where his “Für Elise” has gone viral.
Uslan has performed with symphony orchestras, jazz bands and
small improvisational comedy groups. He began studying classical
music at age 9 in South Orange, N.J., and went to Indiana University
to study classical piano. As a diversion, he picked up the music of
Scott Joplin and Fats Waller, but eventually syncopated music took
over. His music is filled with a deep love and passion for America’s
rich musical past. His repertoire includes original arrangements of
Civil War-era songs, New Orleans-styled jazz, 1920s Charleston,
blues, stomps Harlem stride piano, swing, Cuban rumbas and jazzy
versions of classical masterpieces.
Tuesday, 9 p.m.
Six-time Grammy Award
winner Malcolm John “Mac”
Rebennack, better known as Dr.
John, will bring his piano and
guitar music that combines
blues, pop, jazz, zydeco, boogie
woogie and rock and roll.
SEVEN GUITARS
SUPERLOTTO PLUS
Saturday’s drawing worth $34
million
2
5
22 39 42
3
Wednesday, 9 p.m.
August Wilson’s play is about
a bluesman who returns to
Chicago in 1948, seeking justice
after spending time in jail. Lou
Bellamy, a godfather of theater,
directs. The play runs May
27-June 6. Tickets are $28.
JAY LENO'S STAND-UP
Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Jay Leno, author, long-time
host of “The Tonight Show,” now
retired, is getting back to the
stand-up comedy work that
started his career.
THE INSTRUMENT THAT
ROCKED THE WORLD
DRAWN TUESDAY
Fantasy 5 7 12 13 27 37
Daily 4
0 5 2 1
Daily 3 Midday
0 4 1
Daily 3 Evening
3 3 0
Daily Derby
10 06 08
Race time: 1:46.29
Discovery Place, 301 N. Tryon St.
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
A rockin’ new exhibit is
simply titled “Guitar.” It explores
the history of the world’s most
popular instrument.
SOURCE: CALIFORNIA LOTTERY
YOUTUBE SCREEN GRAB
Still from YouTube of Ethan Uslan playing “Fur Elise.”
Search our events database at
charlotteobserver.com
Wednesday 4/29/15
CHAN
#
Brooke Cain selects the best from
tonight’s TV. Programming is
subject to change.
WBTV
)
WSOC
D
WCNC
2
WCCB
N
WJZY
W
WMYT
∞
WAXN
>
WNSC
J
WTVI
Z
WUNG
SPORTS
ESPN
FS1
GOLF
AMC
MOVIES
Red Nose Day (8 p.m.,
NBC) – Entertainers –
including Will Ferrell, Jack
Black and Jennifer Hudson – perform to raise
money and awareness for
12 charities that aid children and young people
living in poverty.
500 Questions (8
p.m., ABC) – The second
night of this game show in
which two seriously smart
people face off features
Steve Bahnaman of Raleigh. How many questions can he answer before
being eliminated?
Wayward Pines (9
p.m., Fox) – In the second
episode of this creepy new
series, Ethan teams up
with Beverly to look for
clues about Bill Evans’
death. Meanwhile, There-
Duke Energy Theater, Spirit Square,
345 N. College St.
Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St.
Winner: None
Next draw: Today, $36 million
ON TV TONIGHT
WATER COOLER TALK
THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK
HBO
TCM
8 PM
8:30
9 PM
9:30
10 PM
10:30
11 PM
11:30
Survivor A tribal council
Criminal Minds The BAU
CSI: Cyber L0M1S (N) ’
turns confrontational. (N) tracks a vigilante. (N) ’
‘PG, L,V’ cc
The Middle The GoldModern
blackish
Nashville Rayna tries to
(N) ’ cc
bergs (N)
Family (N)
(9:31) (N)
help Deacon. (N) cc
Chicago Fire A fire leads to Chicago PD The Number of Law & Order: Special Vica joint investigation.
Rats (N) cc (DVS)
tims Unit (N) ’
Arrow The League of As- Supernatural Castiel
WCCB News WCCB News
sassins targets Nyssa.
wants to help Claire. (N)
at 10
Edge
American Idol Top 4 Perform The top four finalists
Fox 46 News at 10p (N)
perform. (N) ’(Live) ‘PG, D,L’ cc
The Walking Dead Chero- The Walking Dead Chupa- The Jeffer- Sanford &
kee Rose ’ ‘MA’
cabra ’ ‘MA’
sons ‘PG’
Son ‘PG’
Meet the
Meet the
Dr. Phil “Master manipula- Eyewitness News on TV-64
Browns
Browns
tor” Winston. (N) cc
(N) cc
Nature Family of Yunnan NOVA How police identify Super Skyscrapers One
snub-nosed monkeys. ’
suspects. ’ ‘PG’
World Trade Center cc
Movie: Last Days in Vietnam: American Experience
The Day the ’60s Died ’
(2014, Documentary)
‘PG, V’ cc
Nature Family of Yunnan NOVA How police identify Super Skyscrapers One
snub-nosed monkeys. ’
suspects. ’ ‘PG’
World Trade Center cc
News at 11
PM
News Tonight
NBC Charlotte
The Simpsons cc
Two and a
Half Men
Engagement
Late Show
Letterman
Jimmy Kimmel Live ’
Tonight
Show
King of the
Hill ’ cc
Two and a
Half Men
Family Guy
’ cc
Anger Man- Anger Management
agement
Tavis Smiley BBC World
(N) cc
News cc
NOVA Hubble Space Telescope’s discoveries. ’
Waiting for BBC World
God cc
News cc
MLB Baseball: Philadelphia Phillies at St. Louis Cardinals. From Busch Stadium in
St. Louis. (N Subject to Blackout) (Live)
The Notori- The Ultimate Fighter ’ ‘14’ cc
The Ultimate Fighter (N)
ous cc
’ ‘14’ cc
(4:00) PGA Tour Golf: WGC-Cadillac Match Play, Day
Golf Central (N) (Live)
One. From San Francisco. (N) (Live)
SportsCenter (N) (Live) cc
FOX Sports FOX Sports
Live (N)
Live
PGA Tour Golf
Movie: Jurassic Park III (2001) Sam Neill. A search
Movie: Jurassic Park III (2001) Sam Neill. A search
party encounters new breeds of prehistoric terror.
party encounters new breeds of prehistoric terror.
The Casual Vacancy Part 1 The Casual Vacancy Part 2 Movie (10:05): Godzilla (2014, Science Fiction) Aaron
(N) ‘14’ cc
(N) ‘14’ cc
Taylor-Johnson. ‘PG-13’ cc
Movie: The Wild Party (1956, Crime
Movie (9:45): The Naked Street (1955, Crime Drama) Movie: Flap
Drama) Anthony Quinn, Carol Ohmart.
Farley Granger, Anthony Quinn.
(1970)
sa and Ben head to Idaho
looking for Ethan.
Somebody’s Gotta Do
It With Mike Rowe (9
p.m., CNN) – Mike works
with the Navy Seabees to
build a bridge, then tries
medieval sword-fighting
and immerses himself in
Edgar Allan Poe history.
Lip Sync Battle (10
p.m., Spike) – This is the
showdown we’ve always
wanted and didn’t even
know it: Salt vs. Pepa.
THOM KAINE AP
Chita Rivera, with the cast of "The Visit," in New York, is
going for her third Tony Award.
Rivera, Mirren get
Tony nominations
The musicals “An
American in Paris” and
“Fun Home” each received a leading 12 Tony
Award nominations on
Tuesday, showing two
very different sides of this
Broadway season.
One side is sunny – the
dance-heavy stage adaptation of the 1951 musical
film with George and Ira
Gershwin songs. The other is moody – based on
Alison Bechdel’s graphic
novel about her closeted,
suicidal dad.
The nominations ranged
from 11-year-old Sydney
Associated Press
'Partridge'
daughter, 52, dies
‘Louie Louie’ singer
dies in Oregon
Suzanne Crough Condray, who played the
youngest daughter on the
1970s television show
“The Partridge Family,”
has died. She was 52.
She was found dead
Monday night at home in
Laughlin, Nev., near Las
Vegas. An autopsy will
determine the cause of
death.
“The Partridge Family”
ran on ABC from September 1970 to March 1974.
Condray, as Tracy Partridge, played the tambourine as a member of the
TV family’s band.
“Louie Louie” singer
Jack Ely has died at age
71. His son, Sean Ely, said
the Kingsmen singer died
at home in Redmond,
Ore., after a long illness.
Despite it being one of
the most famous songs of
the 20th century, Ely’s
incoherent singing made
the 1963 hit version of
“Louie Louie” one of the
most misunderstood. The
FBI was so mystified by
the hard-to-understand
lyrics that it conducted an
investigation into whether
the song was obscene.
Lucas in
“Fun
Home” to
82-year-old
Chita Rivera, looking
for her third
Tony, in
Mirren
“The Visit.”
Helen Mirren and Bradley
Cooper each got nominations, but Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor,
Jake Gyllenhaal, Kelsey
Grammer and Matthew
Morrison from “Glee”
didn’t get nods.
Associated Press
Associated Press