The 2024 Triad 100

So much happened this year.

We had a presidential election that was unprecedented — from the incumbent sitting president stepping away to the re-election of a nonconsecutive candidate. Here in NC, politicians resigned at the state level while elections at the local level resulted in new faces on city councils throughout the Triad. And though workers made some gains this year through strikes, there were more police killings this year, including high-profile police chases that ended the lives of teens in Greensboro. Additionally, Triad City Beat had some wins, too.

We celebrated our 10-year anniversary, kicked off a candidate town hall earlier in the year and rounded it out with our reverse town halls that put voters at the center of the conversation. Along the way we saw new businesses open, old institutions close and some of the most influential people in this corner of the world pass on.

It was a year to remember and it’s hard to pick just 100 entries. But we did our best.

PEOPLE

1. Triad police 

William Michael Fulk. Shane Williams Sims. Gerald Pinckney. Yerkoy Rayshun Shuler. Titus Kopp. Derrion Legrand. Kenyan Saxton-Reese. Brandon Bowie Jr. Michael Preston-Robinson II. Tyrence Vann. Police officers in the Triad killed 10 people this year. Some for having guns, others during police chases and one just for walking. All of them are men; a majority of them Black. In some of the cases, the officers have already been cleared of wrongdoing. And in April, High Point police officers used excessive force on Keith McClain (#11) by punching and hitting him while he was pinned to the ground. An investigation is ongoing.

2. Fred Chappell 

Greensboro’s Man of Letters Fred Chappell passed away in January. The distinguished author and poet taught at UNCG for 40 years and was North Carolina poet laureate from 1997-2002. During those years he wrote 11 novels, including the Kirkman Cycle, and nine collections of poetry, winning a shelf full of awards in the process. More noteworthy locally was his effect on the Greensboro literary scene; he taught generations of writers at UNCG and schooled dozens of others from barstools throughout the city.

3. Local lawmakers resign

Three powerful NC House members from the Triad resigned in advance of the 2024 election. Rep. Jon Hardister, who had previously served as House Whip for the GOP, resigned in March after losing his primary for commissioner of labor. Another Republican, Rep. John Faircloth, announced in June that he would tender his resignation in August. Democrat Rep. Ashton Clemmons announced her resignation in July (#17), prompting an official complaint from Black Democrats. In the NC Senate, Republican Sen. Joyce Krawiec announced her retirement in December 2023.

4. Cecil Brockman

High Point’s Democratic representative to the NC House, Rep. Cecil Brockman, was conspicuously absent during several controversial House votes on in March, right around the time Mecklenberg’s Rep. Tricia Cotham defected from the Democratic Party to the Republicans, giving them a veto-proof supermajority in the House. After coming under more fire from his party when he missed another crucial vote in December, he told the News & Observer that though he has no intention of switching parties, “this is the exact same behavior that pushed Tricia Cotham out of our party. Everyone has their limits.”

5. W-S Mayor Allen Joines’ campaign donors

Money talks, and it also votes. Along with Dr. Dan Rose, a professor of sociology at Winston-Salem State University, TCB dove into Mayor Allen Joines’ hefty war chest in March before the primary election. Joines has been in office since 2001, and gathered more than $100,000 by the primary election. The records revealed that his donors are largely white, male, reside on the west side of the city and subscribe to a wide range of political affiliations: 40 percent are Democrats, 30 percent are Republicans and the rest are unaffiliated. Joines ultimately secured the Democratic nomination and sailed to victory in November.

6. Nathaniel Jones

In March, a superior court judge granted an evidentiary hearing for the four men who were convicted of murdering Nathaniel Jones, NBA star Chris Paul’s grandfather 20 years ago. The men requested the hearing in hopes of proving their innocence. According to those involved — they were coerced by Winston-Salem police into making false confessions. The case has shifted in recent years when Jessicah Black’s testimony was recanted in 2019. Now, Nathaniel Cauthen, Rayshawn Banner, Christopher Bryant and Jermal Tolliver have been working with different innocence commissions and centers to clear their names.

7. Taiwo Jaiyeoba

In March, Greensboro City Manager Taiwo Jaiyeoba resigned after two years on the job. After a December 2023 domestic incident involving his daughters, it eventually came out that Jaiyeoba had been sexually harassing a coworker. Despite violating city policy and the fact that his contract stated that he wouldn’t receive any severance pay if he quit, the city still shelled out $125,000 to Jaiyeoba who went on to work for Lochner Engineering.

8. Marielle Argueza

In April of this year, we hired our second reporter, Marielle Argueza, who worked for the newsroom for about four months in partnership with Next City. During her time reporting in Greensboro, Argueza shed light on groups fighting evictions, how refugee groups are helping Greensboro become their new home, how Juneteenth became a citywide holiday and the effects that Bingham Park has on nearby residents. 

9. Striking Triad laborers

Several labor strikes swept across the Triad in 2024. In April, workers at High Point’s Thomas Built Buses threatened a strike over low pay. The strike was averted after a collective bargaining agreement was reached with the United Auto Workers union, which represented the workers. In August, union members for Communications Workers of America began a strike on the Southeast in August that included NC. It ended in September with a new contract that included increases in wages and healthcare subsidies. And Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools bus drivers walked out in November, according to WXII, over “low wages, lack of transparency and safety concerns.” About 20 percent of the drivers participated in the strike, which ended in early December.

10. Ariel Collazo Ramoz

High Point resident Ariel Collazo Ramoz was indicted in April for communicating threats to Rabbi Elizabeth Behar at Temple Best Israel in Macon, Ga. He was accused of making a postcard that had a fake advertisement for Zyklon B, the chemical used by Nazis in the gas chambers at concentration camps during World War II. Ramoz founded Patriot Candle Co., which sold extreme right-wing and  antisemitic candle scents like  2 Genders, Leftist Tears, Thin Blue Line, The Führer (with a photo of Hitler on the glass), Zyklon B (the chemical used in the gas chambers) and Flammenwerfer (German for “flamethrower”). His trial is set for Dec. 27 in federal court.

11. Keith McClain

In April, a High Point Police arrest video went viral on social media. The video shows five HPPD officers subduing two suspects on the ground before punching one of them, Keith McClain, and hitting him with a baton, followed by deployment of pepper spray and a Taser. High Point Police were cleared of any wrongdoing. HPPD Chief Curtis Cheeks (No.  issued a statement saying, in part, “Our officers recognize that the use of force requires constant evaluation. Even at its lowest level, the use of force is a responsibility we take seriously as an agency.”

12. Patrice Toney

Longtime city worker and Winston-Salem Assistant City Manager Patrice Toney was in the running for the open city manager position last summer, but was ultimately snubbed for the job when current City Manager Pat Pate, hailing from Manassas, Va., was hired instead. She also held the position of interim city manager until Pate assumed his duties in November 2023. In May, she left her post to become the town manager of Carrboro, a progressive community that is now in the process of suing Duke Energy for attempting to mask the climate impact of fossil fuels, according to the suit filed in December.

13. Matthew Hamiton and Joseph Lopez Jr.

In May, a federal appeals court denied former Greensboro Police Officer Matthew Hamilton’s appeal for immunity in his 2021 shooting of Joseph Lopez Jr. As TCB has reported, Lopez was shot and killed by Hamilton despite being unarmed. The three judges who denied Hamilton’s claim noted that his actions “violated Lopez’s clearly established rights” and that his “use of deadly force was unreasonable.” As of early December, the civil case against Hamilton is ongoing.

14. Bowman “Bo” Gray IV

Noteworthy Winston-Salem resident Bowman “Bo” Gray IV died in May after a long battle with cancer. Gray, the scion of one of the city’s most prominent families, worked as a day trader and photographer, with several contributor credits and collections to his name, as well as many, many community connections. He shared his name with his great-grandfather, Bowman Gray Sr., who was president and chairman of RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. in the early 20^th Century, built the Graylyn Estate and was known as a philanthropist and patron of the arts in the city. His grandfather, Bowman Gray Jr., followed in his own father’s footsteps both in tobacco and love of community. Bo was the last of his name — he once told a local journalist, “There will be no Bowman Gray V. Not from me, anyway.” But the name survives in many placards and buildings, including Winston-Salem’s NASCAR-sanctioned quarter-mile track, Bowman Gray Stadium.

15. Nancy Vaughan

Four-term Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan, who was first elected to the post in 2013, announced in May that she would not seek re-election. Vaughan was first elected to Greensboro City Council as the District 4 representative in 1997, and after two terms took time off to raise her daughter. She became an at-large councilmember after winning election in 2007, becoming mayor pro tem until she was first elected mayor against Robbie Perkins. During her time as mayor she oversaw the creation of the Tanger Center in downtown Greensboro, the Randolph Megasite, the aquatic center and expansion at Piedmont Triad International Airport. The crackdown on the homeless community and the pandemic also took place on her watch.

16. James R. Martin

In June, James R. Martin became the 13^th chancellor of NC A&T State University after stints at the University of Pittsburgh, Clemson University and Virginia Tech. He was appointed by the UNC System Board of Governors. An engineer specializing in earthquake engineering, he is a graduate of the Citadel in South Carolina.

17. Ashton Clemmons and Tracy Clark

In mid July, three-term Guilford County Democrat NC House Rep. Ashton Clemmons announced that she would be resigning from her seat (#3) to take a job with UNC. After her announcement, a battle for representation ensued with a number of Black candidates facing off against Tracy Clark, who was handpicked by Clemmons and some members of the Guilford County Democratic Party. In the end, after some of the Black candidates filed a complaint that cited a mishandling of the process, Clark won the internal party vote and became the new representative. In November, Clark retook the seat after defeating Republican Janice Clark. 

18. Joe Biden

After a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, incumbent one-term President Joe Biden pulled out of the presidential race in July, making way for his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, to take his place in the election. Like a lot of things in the past couple cycles, this was unprecedented. Harris had less than three months to mount her campaign.

19. Curtis Cheeks

After the retirement of High Point Police Chief Travis Stroud, interim Chief Curtis Cheeks was named as his replacement in July. He is the first Black police chief in High Point. Cheeks, 44, began as a rookie with HPPD 22 years ago.

20. William Penn

In August, Winston-Salem’s chief of police was sued for defamation and emotional distress by Quamekia Shavers, who claimed that she became pregnant after unprotected sex with Chief William Penn. The lawsuit further claimed that Penn pressured Shavers into having an abortion, after which he stopped taking her calls. The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice — meaning it cannot be brought to trial again — by a judge in September. 

21. Robbie Perkins

Former Greensboro Mayor Robbie Perkins (2011-13) confirmed in August that he would once again run for the seat. It comes more than 10 years after he lost a re-election bid to Nancy Vaughan, who has been mayor ever since. It also comes during a time of upheaval on council. Vaughan announced in May that she would not seek re-election. Longtime members Nancy Hoffmann (District 4) and Goldie Wells (District 12) also will decline to run for re-election in 2025, as well as Yvonne Johnson, who made her announcement before she died in December (#29). And two current at-large reps, Marikay Abuzuaiter and Hugh Holston, have expressed interest in running for mayor against Perkins, as has former District 3 councilmember Justin Outling, who lost his race against Vaughan in the peculiar election of 2022. 

22. Matty Sheets

In September, a stalwart of the Greensboro creative underclass, Matty Sheets, died under hospice care after a battle with MS and cancer. Sheets was known best for hosting a weekly open-mic night in Greensboro for 20 years, and also as a musician in many, many unashamedly local bands. His friends remember him for his kindness, his quirky creativity and his pure love for the music scene.

23. Mark Robinson

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson had a rough stretch going into his 2024 bid for governor against Attorney General Josh Stein. In September, statewide news outlet the Assembly (#74) published a story detailing his escapades in Greensboro porn shop in the earlier part of this century. Later that month, CNN followed up with a bombshell report about Robinson’s frequent and explicit posts to pornographic websites during the same period. Beyond the sex stuff, Robinson commented on the site NudeAfrica.com that he was a “Black Nazi“ and that slavery was “not bad.” He quipped, “I wish they would bring it back. I would certainly buy a few.” Robinson lost his race against Stein in November by almost 15 points in one of the first races called of the night.

24. Kevin Mundy and Barbara Hanes Burke

In an October email, former councilmember Kevin Mundy called fellow councilmember Barbara Hanes Burke a bully and accused her of trying to micromanage land sales in her ward. The city has a surplus of vacant city lots, and sold many this year to developers for the low price of $1 — on the condition that they build affordable housing on the land and be completed within certain time frames. Mundy accused Burke, saying that during an October meeting to discuss city-owned lots, she said she had an agreement with former City Manager Lee Garrity that she would have control over contractor selection and sale of the $1 lots in her ward. Burke is currently suing Mundy for defamation.

25. Trey Davis

Former Assistant City Manager Trey Davis took on the job of Greensboro city manager in October. He previously oversaw the public safety division. The internal hire came seven months after Deputy City Manager Chris Wilson’s appointment to a temporary helm as interim city manager, following former City Manager Taiwo Jaiyeoba’s swift departure in March.

26. Republicans

The GOP had a good night in November, winning several key races including the presidency. Also noteworthy: Republicans retained control of the US House of Representatives, winning 220 of 435 seats after the last votes were counted, a 5-seat advantage over Democrats. NC played its part by gerrymandering our 14 House districts to result in 10 Republican reps and just four Democrats in a state that’s fairly evenly split between the parties.

27. Donald Trump

Once again, in November Donald Trump won the race for president of the United States, this time with 312 electoral votes and sweeps of every swing state, including NC. His campaign promises included mass deportations, tariffs of up to 20 percent on all imports, an end to birthright citizenship, pardons for the Jan. 6 insurrectionists and, presumably, all the stuff in Project 2025.

28. Cocoa Hamilton

In early November, Cocoa Hamilton, a Black transwoman was killed by her boyfriend after she tried to leave him, according to the News & Record. Hamilton was a beloved member of the LGBTQ+ community and well-known in the drag circuit under the stage name Quanesha Shantel. Her mother called Hamilton “more than a daughter.” “She was my best friend,” she said. Hamilton’s murder is part of an epidemic of intimate partner violence, which affects the transgender community twice as much as it does those who are cisgender, according to the National Institute of Health.

29. Yvonne Johnson 

In December, longtime Greensboro City Council at-large representative and the first Black mayor of Greensboro, Yvonne Johnson died. The graduate of both NC A&T State University and Bennett College served continuously on council beginning in 1993, with just two years off, from 2007-09, when she lost her re-election bid to Bill Knight. She is remembered for her advocacy for the forgotten corners of the city, giving voice to the voiceless and relentlessly interacting with the people she considered hers. She had an encyclopedic knowledge of Greensboro, its history and its people, and she generously shared her wisdom with many young reporters new to the city beat.

PLACES

30. Illicit massage parlors

In January, TCB ran a deep dive into the business of illicit massage parlors which operate in plain sight around the Triad. In many of these businesses, women from Asian countries are trafficked to the US with debt that keeps them from being able to leave. Oftentimes their immigration status and housing is also used as leverage to keep the women working under unsafe conditions. In November, another story by TCB found that illicit massage parlors were still operating in Winston-Salem. Now, both Greensboro and Winston-Salem are working to update their ordinances to crack down on the issue.

31. Interactive Resource Center

In January, Greensboro’s homeless day shelter began offering 24/7 services thanks to funding from the city and Guilford County. Soon after, 911 calls from the center increased and nearby business owners began to complain about trash being left on their property by homeless people. Then, when the IRC requested more funding from the city, city leaders delayed their vote, putting operations in jeopardy. Ultimately, the IRC returned to their day center hours in November, the same month that executive director Kristina Singleton resigned after three years on the job, and former IRC Director of Programs Bennita Curtain took her place as interim director. Curtain has been working with people experiencing homelessness since 2009, according to the IRC.

32. Clifford Apartments

In November 2023, the city of Winston-Salem bought Clifford Apartments at 800 N. Spring St. for $760,000 from Experiment in Self-Reliance, a nonprofit that has received financial assistance from the city for several years. The building housed low-income residents. Then, the city agreed to sell the property to local developer Jared Rogers for $600,000 in January. However, the deal has not gone through and the property is still owned by the city. Current tenants hope to secure ownership of the building.

33. UNCG

This has been a year of monumental change at UNCG. The large public university, which serves more than 18,000 students, underwent massive budget cuts starting last year, which resulted in the elimination of several programs. The changes, which were reported on by TCB, included an external review by a consulting group known for gutting universities. By February, the final list of 20 programs to be cut was announced, and in March, the faculty passed a vote of no confidence in the provost, who ended up resigning in April.

34. Cleveland Avenue Homes

In March, residents at Cleveland Avenue Homes in Winston-Salem began moving into the 81 new apartments of public housing built on the site of the former Brown Elementary School. The units are replacing the aging Cleveland Avenue Homes, and funding came from a $30 million grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

35. Boba House

Greensboro’s beloved vegetarian restaurant, which had operated off of Tate Street for more than 20 years, closed its doors in March. Boba House first opened in 2003 when the idea of a plant-based restaurant was rare. Owners Kieuanh Ho and Kiet Nguyen told TCB that they were closing not because of staffing or financial issues, but because they simply wanted to spend more time with their family. “We’ve been blessed to do what we do, but we think it’s a good time to focus on our children,” Ho said.

36. J. Spencer Love House

For about one week in March, the Greensboro news cycle was preoccupied with the fate of the J. Spencer Love House, an 87-year-old mansion that was demolished by its new owner, Roy Carroll. Many who saw the building as a historic monument took issue with Carroll’s decision, calling it disrespectful and distasteful. As reported by other outlets, Carroll bought the house in February and decided to tear it down rather than renovate it. 

37. American Hebrew Academy

The American Hebrew Academy, an international prep school for Jewish students set on a 100-acre campus in Greensboro, closed in 2019 due to financial issues. In March, the US Dept. of Health & Human Services announced it was considering the school campus as a possible location to house unaccompanied migrant children as an “emergency influx shelter.” The school never actually performed this function — no migrant children were ever brought there. In October, the facility was repurposed by the federal government to provide shelter and relief for victims of Hurricane Helene (#47), which ravaged the western part of the state but no action was taken afterwards.

38. McKay’s 

After 15 years, the McKay’s in Greensboro moved to Mebane in April. Citing the need for more space, the used bookstore closed its building on Battleground and moved about 33 miles east. First founded in 1974, McKay’s still has a location in Winston-Salem.

39. Summerfield

In June, the entire staff of the town of Summerfield, outside Greensboro — nine people — resigned en masse. The move came, some of them say, after a “toxic environment” descended amid the dismissal of Town Manager Scott Whitaker. New Town Manager Charles “Twig” Rollins pledged in November to be a “consensus builder” as the town restructures.

40. The old Greensboro News & Record building

In June, the former downtown headquarters of the Greensboro News & Record, situated at the corner of Market and Davie streets, was finally demolished after sitting vacant since 2020. In the interim, squatters and rodents had taken over the building. The 6-acre campus housed the city’s newspaper of record since the 1970s. In August 2023, the remains of Tiffany Holmes-Williams, who had been murdered by gunshot, were found there. Former columnist and metro editor Lorraine Ahearn remembered the place for a piece in TCB in May.

41. Chandler’s

After months of controversy involving staff walkouts revolving around issues of pay and harassment, new owners — Alexis and Joshua Chandler — took over the old Green Bean in downtown Greensboro in July. The new shop called Chandler’s, operates as a coffee shop and cocktail bar with an extended menu and food options. “It’s been super busy,” Chandler told TCB in an interview in late July. “We’ve had lots of people come back and say it feels like it used to.”

42. Double Oaks 

Since 2016, the historic Harden Thomas Martin House had been operating as a bed and breakfast in Greensboro, known as Double Oaks. But in August, a progressive nonprofit, Down Home NC, bought the 1909 mansion to use as their new headquarters. “It’s very common actually, for base-building organizations to do this,” co-founder and co-director Todd Zimmer says, “to find a movement center to anchor our work.”

43. a/perture cinema

When the board of a/perture cinema, Winston-Salem’s beloved arthouse theater, announced in September that they were facing financial difficulties, it raised alarm throughout the community. That month, longtime founding director Lawren Desai, stepped down from the organization, citing that she was “pretty much exhausted.” Three months later, in December, the organization announced a new director who noted that their financial campaign to raise $100,000 has been “enormously positive.”

44. Kim’s Kafe

It’s not often something that happens in Greensboro goes viral worldwide. But in September, when the owner of Kim’s Kafe posted strict rules for dress on Facebook, the internet took it and ran with it. Within days, the post had garnered thousands of reactions and comments, with many citing that the rules were sexist or racist. The cafe, which is Black-owned, appears operational based on many Facebook posts and recent Google reviews.

45. Spring Street Co-op

Nestled into a quiet corner of downtown, a small white apartment complex awaits new tenants. The property was formerly owned by Partners for Homeownership and in September, the city council forgave a loan that had been hanging over the property for years, allowing it to be sold to Spring Street Co-op, a new group aiming to offer the residence to low-income tenants. A housing co-op allows residents to own the building and grow equity for themselves. The group is currently working to clean and refurbish the residence.

46. Winston Lake Golf Course

The historic course, which opened in 1956, was once the only place where Black golfers were allowed to play. The city-owned course was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December 2023. The course is currently being renovated to the tune of $1.72 million. The city recently paid $720,657 for tree removal in September.

47. Western NC

In late September, Hurricane Helene did the unthinkable: It swept into the mountains of western NC after making landfall in Florida. The storm caused a historic level of damage in these mountain communities, flooding Boone, flooding the French Broad River near Asheville, wiping out most of Chimney Rock, causing structural damage to the Lake Lure Dam and contributing to the deaths of more than 100 people. Catastrophic damages included power and water outages, collapsed or impassable roads, severe flooding and destruction of property. In the chaos, misinformation ran rampant, much of it coming from then-candidate Trump and his party. Media and elected officials in the mountains scrambled to combat this second flood of disinformation that included rumors that the federal government had created the hurricane to target GOP voters, that government aid was deliberately being withheld from victims and diverted to immigrants and that the government would seize some mountain communities to mine the lithium under the soil. An aid bill passed by the NC Legislature included sections that further stripped the governor of some of his appointment powers (#99) and other agenda items to consolidate Republican power in Raleigh. 

48. Bingham Park 

After years of contemplating what to do about Bingham Park, the site of a former preregulatory landfill, Greensboro’s city council voted in October to cap and cover the park rather than fully remediate it by removing its contaminated dirt. The city had considered moving the dirt to White Street Landfill, which was met by outrage from concerned residents around the landfill area. While the cap and cover method will save the city millions of dollars, the decision-making process as well as the result itself drew the ire and grief of the community, particularly those who reside near the park, who had participated in years-long engagement with the city and researchers and had made it clear that they wanted the park to be fully remediated.

49. Regency Inn

Built in 1957, the Greensboro hotel has changed hands multiple times in recent years. The nonprofit Partnership Homes used a $3 million loan from the city to purchase the property in 2021 with the intention of transforming it into housing; the property also served as a winter shelter for the homeless over the years. Then, when Partnership Homes couldn’t follow through on the project, the city partnered with a nonprofit called Step Up On Second in May 2023, with the goal of turning it into supportive housing for the chronically homeless. The nonprofit also partnered with other cities such as Asheville and Winston-Salem. However, Step Up soon found itself in major legal drama when it was unable to deliver the promised housing. Ultimately, due to the building’s years of neglect stacked against it, the city decided to demolish it in October and is currently seeking developers to build affordable housing on the property.

50. Weatherspoon Art Museum

In October, the Weatherspoon Art Museum, situated on UNCG’s campus, made an announcement that in 2026 they would open up a new art center within its walls. Named the Cole Levin Center for Art and Human Understanding, the new center will focus on the ability for students to study objects with a closer eye and an opportunity for community groups to have curated exhibitions hosted by the center.

THINGS

51. Palestine protests

Since this round of conflict between Israel and Hamas began in October 2023 — resulting in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians caught in the middle — conscious activists have been raising the alarm throughout the Triad. College students at Wake Forest University camped out for days, leading to clashes with administration, Guilford College students who protested were barred from walking at graduation and multiple community groups hosted protests throughout the cities. In Winston-Salem, activists called for a ceasefire resolution at city council meetings while those in Greensboro did the same. The efforts point to a fervor by people thousands of miles away from Palestine demanding justice for the victims.

52. GSO’s anti-homeless amendments

It’s been a long and chaotic year for unhoused residents in Greensboro. Since January, city council has worked with other organizations including Downtown Greensboro Inc. to pass increasingly harmful amendments that target the unhoused community. In December, city leaders approved changes to a city ordinance prohibiting sitting, lying down or sleeping on public sidewalks during certain times. Violations can result in a fine up to $50 and a class 3 misdemeanor. They’re also seeking to increase punishment for urination and defecation. “It is undisputed that some of these violations come from our unhoused community,” a November press release from the city stated. 

53. NC secrecy law

In January, NC’s new secrecy law took effect. First passed in 2023, a provision in the state budget now makes it so that state lawmakers are exempt from the public records law. Mayors, the governor and agency leaders are still beholden to the public records law but the changes allow lawmakers themselves to decide what to make public. 

54. Crystal Towers fire

An apartment in Winston-Salem’s Crystal Towers went up in flames in January, leading to the evacuation of the 11-story high rise for low-income senior and disabled residents. The building has no sprinkler system. “It’s an interesting situation with high-rise fires because you just can’t evacuate people out, you have to sort of shelter-in-place,” WSFD Battalion Chief Joe Ramsey told TCB. The resident of the apartment lost her cat to the fire. According to some residents, the fire alarm goes off all the time, so they weren’t sure if it was real. Some were in the shower, some were bedridden and had no choice but to shelter in place. “This is exactly, exactly what we’ve been afraid of,” resident Michael Douglas told TCB. People were stuck in the elevator shaft “banging on stuff” when Douglas was leaving the building, he said.

55. disCOURSE dining events

In January, Tina Firesheets (#71) and Ling Sue Withers teamed up to create the disCOURSE dining series, a food event in Greensboro in which they focused on female chefs and invited women in the community to taste their food. Their first event brought Chef Adé Carrena from Raleigh to the city, where she cooked a Beninese meal for the participants. Subsequent events featured Eunice Chang of the Spicy Hermit, Jordan Rainbolt of Native Root and Sharna Shamsuddin of Elaka Treats. The event series is expected to continue in 2025.

56. GSO Memes

In January, interviewed the creator of the GSO Meme Instagram — otherwise known as @shoppes_at_friendly_lover — which featured Greensboro-based jokes about the McKay’s on Battleground, merging onto Lawndale Avenue from Cone Boulevard and Krazy Kevin Powell. The page, which garnered about 7,500 followers at its peak, ceased to post new content in April but provided quality laughs while it was active.

57. Triad City Beat celebrates 10 years

Where has the time gone? In February, Triad City Beat celebrated 10 years of operation, culminating in an awesome party at the Flat Iron in Greensboro. We also reached out to 10 of our most loyal readers who gave reflections on their relationship to the little paper that could and also reached back out to 10 staffers or contributors from years past. When Brian Clarey, Eric Ginsburg and Jordan Green first started this venture in 2014, none of them could have imagined how far TCB would go. And looking back now, it’s been a hell of a run.

58. Frye statue 

While Henry and Shirley Frye have long watched over Greensboro, making an indelible mark upon the city, the beloved couple now gazes over Center City Park as well. The statue of the former NC Supreme Court chief justice and the trailblazing teacher was unveiled in February. Shirley Frye told the crowd on Feb. 20 that she and her husband have “tried to live a meaningful life. We believe sincerely that we were placed on this Earth not to be served, but to serve.”

59. Pedicabs in Winston-Salem

Per a city ordinance approved in February, pedicabs are free to roam all over the city. Still, they’re limited to roads 35 miles per hour or under. They must be equipped with brake lights and a headlight, as well as turn signals and seatbelts, while drivers are required to hold a valid driver’s license and insurance. 

60. Winston-Salem building height rules

In February, city councilmembers approved changes to the city’s building height limit rules. This allows for denser housing structures to increase the city’s available housing stock, because the supply of “undeveloped, serviceable land available for residential development has been steadily decreasing in many areas of Forsyth County,” according to the city.

61. Winston-Salem’s multi-use pathway

In February, city leaders approved a $4.8 million contract to finish up the strollway located around swaths of the center city. The project was originally a partnership between the city and NCDOT, but when the pandemic hit, funding was frozen. According to an email to TCB from the city’s transportation director Jeffrey Fansler, the segment between Peters Creek Parkway and Brookstown Avenue is mostly complete, while the other segments “still have much to do.” The project should be completed in early July 2025, Civil Engineer Will Cave told TCB in a follow-up email.

62. Winston-Salem City Council changes

The city council has three new leaders. In January 2023, Northwest Ward Councilmember Jeff MacIntosh announced that he would not seek re-election. Then, in December 2023, Southwest Councilmember Kevin Mundy also decided not run for office again. During the March primary election, incumbent South Ward councilmember John Larson lost the Democratic nomination to local restaurateur, Vivián Joiner, who now represents the ward. In November, the Southwest Ward seat was taken by Scott Andree Bowen while Regina Ford Hall was elected to the Northwest Ward seat.

63. Sports gambling

Just in time for the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament, gambling on sports became legal in NC in March. The new law made accommodations for up to 11 online gaming purveyors, stipulating that each must partner with a physical location in NC — a pro team or a facility that hosts professional sporting events. The lonely Triad location, Sedgefield Country Club, which hosts the PGA Wyndham Championship, has yet to announce an online gaming partner.

64. Behavioral Evaluation and Response Team (BEAR)

In May 2023, the city’s Behavioral Evaluation and Response team, or BEAR, was created to offer emergency help to people struggling with mental health. The team is housed within the fire department and has answered thousands of calls since their inception, police-free, and in March, BEAR received $700,000 in federal funding to expand the team. 

65. New bus station rules in Winston-Salem

In December 2023, city council officials approved changes to the code of conduct and ban policy on Winston-Salem Transit Authority buses as well as at downtown’s bus depot at Clark Campbell Transportation Center. This included a 90-minute hangout limit for depot visitors and passengers. Some residents voiced concerns that these new rules could directly target the unhoused, including former city councilmember Kevin Mundy, who worried that the policies could be weaponized against a “marginalized population.” In March, TCB met several unhoused residents who had been banned, including one who had been barred for shouting an obscenity at a staff member. Lisa Uber, who runs a grassroots homeless outreach organization called Mama Lisa’s Love out of her van, told TCB at the time that since the rules were updated in December 2023, security has been “running people off” and that the people she serves have been “scattered all over the place.” She “can’t find them half the time” because they’re “afraid they’re going to get banned.”

66. Short-term rental rules in Greensboro

Stricter rules for short-term rentals in Greensboro such as AirBNBs and Vrbos officially went into effect in April. The mayor and city council approved the new rules in May 2023, which include that owners of whole-house rentals must reside in Guilford County or an adjacent county, rentals cannot be within 750 feet of another rental, and that owners must apply for a permit from the city.

67. Electric scooters return

Remember when electric scooters were unceremoniously dropped on the doorstep of Greensboro in 2018? Now, scooters are — at least by city council standards — a tolerated sight. In December 2023, Greensboro’s leaders approved a contract with Bird scooters, which returned to roost in April. Likewise, Winston-Salem partnered with Lime scooters in August after updating their micromobility ordinance in March.

68. Section 8 housing vouchers in Forsyth County

In April, the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem opened up their housing voucher waitlist for the first time since December 2021. At the time, 900 people were on the waitlist. Vouchers offer a way for low-income, elderly or disabled renters to put only 30 percent of their income toward their rent.

69. Winston-Salem’s Fourth Police District

In April, the Winston-Salem Police Department created a new police district, aiming to relieve pressure from other districts by focusing on curbing crime downtown. The new district’s ground covers four percent of the city’s total footprint, but accounts for 14 percent of the overall calls. Total calls for service per square mile in District Four are four times higher than any other district. 

70. Winston-Salem Transit Authority management

After being “slapped on the wrist” by the Federal Transit Administration about the way the Winston-Salem Transit Authority was being managed, the city went with a new vendor, RATP Dev, to manage their bus system. City leaders approved the new contract in May, which will cost them more than $200 million over the next seven years.

71. GSO’s first AAPI film festival

For the first time in the city’s history, an Asian American Pacific Islander Film Festival was held this year in May at the Greensboro History Museum. Featuring a screening of short films by local filmmakers, the festival was the brainchild of Tina Firesheets, who also started the disCOURSE dining event series (#55) this year, too.

72. The Rhino Times

Greensboro’s conservative newsweekly, the Rhino Times, was sold by its owner, Roy Carroll, to longtime Rhino writer Scott Yost in May. Carroll saved the Rhino from extinction in 2013 when he took it over from founder John Hammer, who closed it down that year. Hammer stayed on as editor and Yost as county reporter. It was Hammer’s retirement that precipitated the sale.

73. Mapping Prejudice

In May, WSSU professor Russell Smith presented Mapping Prejudice, a community project, to Winston-Salem’s City Council. The project, which will span 2-3 years, aims to pinpoint the racial covenants lingering in many Forsyth County deeds by examining 1.4 million pages of documents dated between 1900-70. “We know the values of homes from the east side to the west side of [Highway] 52 can differ dramatically, and so being able to purchase property in one area or not could really have generational impacts on individuals,” Smith explained. “We want to collect those stories. We want to hear about what people went through.”

74. The Assembly

Begun in February 2021 as a longform statewide news organization, in June the Assembly pulled in a few Triad-based journalists and created the Thread, a weekly newsletter for Greensboro promising “compelling, original reporting on topics that matter” to the city. Former News & Record reporter Joe Killian is the editor, with former WFDD News Director Emily McCord as a regional editor, along with a Report for America reporter PR Lockhart and in a part-time role, TCB’s own Managing Editor Sayaka Matsuoka, who came on as a contributing writer. Since its inception, the Assembly has established newsrooms in Wilmington and Fayetteville, and has a purchase agreement for the Indy in the Triangle, as well as beats established for politics, courts and higher education.

75. Warehouses in East Greensboro

In June, a number of East Greensboro residents took to city council to reject a rezoning request that would result in more industrial warehouses near their homes. In the end, city council approved the request anyway which allowed the annexation of land into the city limits, paving the way for Wylie Capital to turn the area into a 254,000 square foot warehouse.

76. WS/FCS cell phone policy

Every kid has one. So what should school systems do about cell phones in classrooms? In June, before school started, the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System passed new rules regarding cell phones that state that students are not allowed to use, display or have visible any cell phones or wireless devices during the instructional day. High school students are allowed to use it during their lunch period. The shift in rules comes in the wake of a national conversation around kids and social media use and mental health. 

77. W-S Confederate monument

In June, the yearslong controversy surrounding Winston-Salem’s Confederate monument came to an end when the statue of a Confederate soldier was moved from storage to Davidson County. The conflict started back in 2017 in the wake of the Charlottesville monument protest which led to activists demanding the removal of the Winston-Salem statue. Since 2019, the statue has been in storage. The statue is now on display in Valor Memorial Park in Denton, NC.

78. Cosmic Summit in GSO

Ancient lost civilizations, sacred geometric, UFOs, cold fusion, alien technology and thunderstorm generators. All of it played a role at this year’s Cosmic Summit, a gathering of some of the most conspiracy-minded individuals in the country. While the event has been hosted in Asheville in the past, this year it set its sights on Greensboro, taking over the Koury Convention Center’s largest spaces for three days in June. Good news for those who missed the event this year: the convention is set to come back to Greensboro in 2025.

79. Japanese WWII flags at the GSO History Museum

When Ayla Amon, the Greensboro History Museum’s curator of collections discovered old WWII Japanese “good luck” flags in the museum’s archives, she wasn’t sure what to make of it at first. After doing some preliminary research, she realized that the flags had originally been sent off with Japanese soldiers and were often signed by the young mens’ families and loved ones. When American troops defeated the soldiers in war, they would take the flags off of the soldiers’ bodies and return home with them. That’s how they ended up in the museum’s collection. This story by TCB, in partnership with the Assembly, from June, explained how many of these flags have been found in the US and how a little-known organization in Oregon is working to repatriate them back to the descendants of the soldiers in Japan.

80. Civil service boards

After years of urging from city workers, the state legislature enacted a law last year that requires both cities to create a board to hear workers’ grievances such as termination and reduction in rank or pay, and potentially overturn those decisions. This board will only apply to police and fire employees. In June, Winston-Salem finalized theirs; Greensboro’s was finalized in August. Both Greensboro and Winston-Salem’s boards are expected to be up and running in January 2025.

81. City budgets 

In July, Greensboro and Winston-Salem’s new fiscal year budgets went into effect. Winston-Salem’s budget for this year is $658.9 million; Greensboro’s is $801.8 million. Notably, Greensboro is spending $104 million on their police department this year, while Winston-Salem is spending $93.9 million. The property tax rate in Winston-Salem went up, while Greensboro’s stayed the same.

82. Little Free Art Galleries

In July, TCB interviewed the curators of the smallest art galleries in the Triad: the Little Free Art Galleries in Winston-Salem and Greensboro in which artists drop off pieces to be taken for free. The little windows, which are volunteer run, take donations from both local and international artists and have a rotating bank of pieces. “In a world where there’s a lot going on, it’s just a tiny moment where you can experience something fun or unique that you didn’t expect to,” says Taylor Hayes, the curator of the Winston-Salem gallery.

83. Burlesk Con of the Carolinas

In July, the first ever Burlesk Con of the Carolinas was hosted in Winston-Salem. A passion project of Selia d’Catzmeow Carmichael, the event was a way to tie together the history of the artform to the current moment. “It’s to celebrate who we have and the history and legacy we have here,” Carmichael told TCB. “Because we do have a legacy.” As part of the event, there were multiple burlesque shows, informative panels and a competition.

84. TEAM Program

Over the spring and summer, grassroots organization Keep Gate City Housed pushed city leaders to fund the TEAM Program, which stands for Tenant Education Advocacy Mediation Program. TEAM operates out of UNCG and works directly with people facing eviction. Members of TEAM set up tables outside the small claims eviction courts in Guilford County and High Point, providing legal representation, mediation services and help with rental assistance applications. Ultimately, city leaders added the team’s requested $440,000 to their annual budget in July.

85. Clarey family car accident

In late August, TCB’s publisher, Brian Clarey, and his son, Ross, and wife Jill, were involved in a horrific car accident that left the three of them in the hospital for weeks. In the weeks that followed, a GoFundMe that was started by Brian’s wife’s sister, raised more than $100,000 to help cover the family’s medical costs. As of December, Ross is back at school in Boston and Brian and Jill are both recovering in Greensboro.

86. School vouchers

In 2024, the NC Legislature expanded the state’s Opportunity Scholarship program, which gives parents of public school students vouchers that can be used as credits towards tuition at private schools, pledging almost $5 billion over the next decade. The move was tucked into the budget, which passed in September without the benefit of the governor’s signature. Once a program for students from low-income families, recent laws have lifted the income requirements so that a family of five now making more than $300,000 a year qualifies for $4,480 in scholarships per student.

87. Winston-Salem Chronicle celebrates 50 years

As TCB celebrated its 10-year-anniversary this year, the Winston-Salem Chronicle, the city’s Black-owned newspaper, celebrated its fiftieth. The paper, which was started by Ernie Pitts in 1974, has had a long and storied past in the city with Pitts first starting it after trying to publish a story about institutional racism within law schools for a local paper. When none took the story on, Pitts decided to start the Chronicle. For the anniversary event in September, archives from the paper’s past were put on display and a panel discussion with Pitts and former Chronicle staffers took place. 

88. GRAWL’s last show

Greensboro’s beloved arm wrestling league, GRAWL, celebrated its 16^th and final show in September after having put on events since 2015. The organization, which started as a way to raise money for local nonprofits, allowed women and nonbinary people to express themselves, put their efforts behind a good cause and have some fun while they did it. “One of the things that GRAWL is, is just a place where you can go be yourself and do a fun thing and accomplish something as a group, and that’s powerful,” Amanda Lehmert Killian, the co-founder, told TCB.

89. Reverse town halls

As a continuation of TCB’s mission to create community-centric election coverage, the newsroom hosted its first reverse town halls in October. Inspired by events by the Current, an independent outlet in Louisiana, the town halls put a panel of voters on stage and asked local candidates to come and sit in the audience. Over the course of two days — one event in Greensboro and one in Winston-Salem — the newsroom put on events that drew dozens of candidates and community members. The topics of conversation included the economy, healthcare, housing and education and included an interactive component that allowed voters in the audience to answer questions along with the panelists in real time.

90. The Greensboro Massacre

Morningside: The 1979 Greensboro Massacre and the Struggle for an American City’s Soul, a book by Aran Shetterly about the infamous shootout between activists and the KKK at Morningside Homes, debuted in October. The Klan killed five people that day and injured 12 others. Though plenty of folks in Greensboro never heard of this event and Morningside Homes was torn down in 2002, it was a seminal event in the history of the city. A commemorative plaque was erected in May 2015, and the city of Greensboro formally apologized for the police department’s role in the shooting in October 2020. 

91. Early voting in NC

The early voting period in NC, which this year ran from Oct. 17-Nov. 2, broke turnout records as more than half of our state’s voters chose to cast their votes before Election Day. Upwards of 4.2 million voters cast early ballots, spread all across the political spectrum. 

92. Leaf-collection changes in Greensboro

In August 2023, city leaders voted to end loose leaf collection, much to the dismay of residents, and October 2023 marked the city’s last pickup season. In January, the city purchased $4.1 million worth of plastic bins for yard waste, distributing them to residents in April. The city now only takes away yard waste placed in these bins or in paper bags. This November, residents began life without loose leaf pickup.

93. NC Council of State races

Evidence that points to NC’s evenly split electorate came in the council of state races in November, because you can’t gerrymander a statewide election. Of the nine seats up for grabs, five were won by Republicans and four by Democrats. Arguably, the more powerful seats — lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state and superintendent of public instruction — went blue.

94. Guilford County tax referendum

In November, Guilford County residents voted against a referendum on the ballot that would have raised taxes in the county by a quarter of a cent to help raise funds for public schools. While county commissioners agreed to use that funding for education, the wording on the referendum did not state what the extra funds would be used for, likely causing confusion amongst voters. In the end, the referendum failed with more than 60 percent of voters voting against the measure.

95. Downtown Winston-Salem’s parking changes

Folks aren’t too happy about this one. Currently 25 cents an hour, parking rates for on-street parking downtown will increase to $1.50 an hour in spring 2025. The city will be using PayByPhone to accept payments, approving the contract with the company in November. They’re also partnering with Gtechna for parking enforcement. Parking fine rates will double from the current $15 to $30, but off-street parking such as lots will remain $1 per hour.

96. Brown Elementary School historic marker

Generations of children attended the historic Brown Elementary School, which first opened its doors in the 1900s and served as a Black-only school, before closing in 1984 after successful pushes for desegregation in schools. The property was sold to the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem, but it was destroyed by a fire in 2016. In November, a historic marker from the city was unveiled at the site of the old school.

97. NC Supreme Court race

The wildest race of November was the contest for NC Supreme Court Associate Justice between Democrat incumbent Allison Riggs and Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin. Griffin was ahead late on Election Night, but by the time all the ballots were counted Riggs was up by the slimmest of margins, just 734 votes. Griffin then issued a legal challenge to the status of some 60,000 voters in that race, alleging they had not been registered properly. That challenge was voted down by the NC State Board of Elections in early December. Griffin has intimated that he will pursue further legal action in this election. Ironically, the case would likely end up in front of the same NC Supreme Court the two are running for. 

98. NC’s Raise the Age law

In December, the state’s Raise the Age law went into effect. The amendment to the law, which passed back in June, states that all 16 and 17 year olds who commit Class A through E felonies will be tried as adults immediately. The amendment was originally vetoed by Gov. Roy Cooper but his veto was overridden. The ACLU and other civil rights groups have criticized the change to the law, saying it will negatively affect an already vulnerable group.

99. NC GOP power grab

In December, NC GOP lawmakers enacted a law that diminishes the power of the state governor. While Gov. Roy Cooper initially vetoed the bill, the GOP-controlled House and Senate overrode Cooper’s action. The bill now transfers power from the governor to the state auditor — which would be incoming Republican Dave Boliek — to fill vacancies on the state Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. It also prevents the attorney general from taking legal positions contrary to the General Assembly in litigation challenging a law’s validity, according to the AP.

100. Locals resist

In the wake of Donald Trump’s imminent return to the presidency, Triad residents are finding ways to hold on to hope even as immigration, abortion and marriage rights lie in the path of the storm. In December, TCB interviewed local abortion advocates and providers and LGBTQ+ couples, as well as undocumented immigrants and organizations that can help them. “No one is going to steal my love, but I am also going to fight for it,” one spouse told TCB.