The truth is sometimes very painful,” Dr. Kim Cook acknowledges. The professor in the sociology and criminology department at UNCW discusses with me her work with restorative justice. My two immediate takeaways are: 1) Restorative justice is far more encompassing than many people realize; and 2) it requires some very deep work for all involved. “‘If crime is about injury, then justice should be about healing,’ and that comes from John Brathwaite, one of the intellectual leaders of the restorative justice field,” Dr. Cook notes. So, yes, restorative justice can address a specific crime, like ro ..read more

Dawn broke early and well over the Cape Fear River one morning last week before the sun officially rose on the circus—the 2020 presidential campaign season—and just before our beloved Fourth of July tourists hit town. Dawn is beautiful every morning I have the privilege to wake up and greet it, partly because the sun rises on Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Democratic Socialists, tourists, locals, even Ol’ 45. After my morning workout, I stopped for a cup of what should be our national beverage at my favorite coffee shop on Market. I ordered a medium Black Mountain brew and bagel, and wa ..read more

Niche Marketing Say you have a new baby. Say you’re overwhelmed with love and sleep deprivation, and say you’ve been auditioning names for months, to no avail. Future Perfect, a web startup, will happily accept your $350 fee to “email you a customized list of names” to choose from, plus 15 minutes of phone time with one of its consultants. “Working your way through thousands of alphabetized names can be a useful exercise for some,” the website explains, “but the lists we provide are personalized, hyper-curated and unique to each client’s specific criteria.” They’ll even help you name your pets ..read more

From the Editor… Encore is turning 35 this week, (and, full disclosure, it’s my 20th year working for the publication—hold on a second while I grab another shot of tequila…). While some folks may not blink an eye at 35, well, according to science, we now have reached full brain maturity. So how ‘bout that! Also, we can officially run for president (but who wants that job?)! We’re also pretty sure we’re getting early acceptance into AARP! To celebrate we have a few things lined up this month that you, our lovely readers, will be able to enjoy and celebrate alongside us. First off, check out our ..read more

“What do you like about living in Wilmington?” It’s a question I get asked a lot, with which I tend to answer like this: GRANTING THE LOVE: Kevin Lee-y Green is the head of Techmoja Dance Company, which is a finalist for the NEFA grant. Photo by Chris Brehmer Photography “We have people living here who work at a really high caliber in their field. You can meet them. You can work with them. You can learn from them. There are not layers and layers of gatekeepers in front of them.” The flip side is, as a result, we have raised several generations of artists who have grown up learning their craf ..read more

“Jock was cursing Pythagoras’ name,” Anthony said with a grin. “I’ve never heard someone say ‘fuck’ and ‘Pythagoras’ so much in the same sentence.” A NEW DAY, A NEW DAWN: Jock Brandis is building a garage to continue his life’s passion of inventing and building now that he’s retired from Full Belly Project. Photo by Gwenyfar Rohler “Yeah, he realized he mislaid the form for the pad in the garage. I’m like, ‘Well, better to discover it now than in two months!’” I shrugged and grinned. In two months the concrete will (hopefully) be poured and we will be well on our way to framing the walls. In ..read more

On the final day of May, I went online to check the score of the UNCW baseball game at the Chapel Hill Regional, and I began to realize that I may be an unwilling victim of “unsystematic desensitization.” While I was waiting for an update, a breaking news alert popped up in the lower right-hand corner of the screen: “12 dead in a mass shooting at Virginia Beach.” “My God!” I thought. “I hate pop-ups!” I clicked through to ESPN’s site and became even more frustrated when I found that after a long rain delay the Seahawks charitably gave back the lead and lost to UNC Chapel Hill. Not exactly a co ..read more

My grandfather on my father’s side of the family would have been a Red Shirt, had he lived in Wilmington in 1898. The Red Shirts were a group of young men with para-military ambitions who were part of the perpetrators during a dark and horrifying chapter in Wilmington’s history: the 1898 coup. Our family did not live here at the time, and so I am spared at least that piece of shame. But it was through his obituary I discovered the answer to a question I have asked for over 20 years. YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES: Gwenyfar ponders over Wilmington’s governing system, where it is founded and the ongoing ..read more

Alisa Harris, owner of Wilmington’s premier dinner-theater venue, TheatreNOW, announced on Wednesday, May 29, she would shutter the doors after “Clue, the Musical” closes on August 24. The news shocked many. Alisa and her mother, MC Erny, have been pillars of Wilmington’s theatre and arts community for almost three decades. When walking into the lobby of Big Dawg’s Cape Fear Playhouse, MC’s picture shines bright. The Green Room backstage at Thalian Hall is dedicated in her honor. And of course, WHQR’s art gallery is named in MC’s honor. Both MC and Alisa have appeared on stage in town for year ..read more

“It’s your ‘Fifty-four-forty or fight’ guy. He’s the one who coined the term.” “Ah, the expansionist war monger. That’s whose home you want to visit?” Jock asked me over the rim of a beer can. DAYS OF YESTERYEAR: Enactors showcase what life was like on the Polk family farm in the early 19th century at the President James K. Polk State Historic Site in Pineville, NC. Courtesy photo Jock had proposed an overnight road trip to Rutherford County, NC, to see the Edwards family, including the real-life Kudzu Queen, Matriarch Edith Edwards. It had been five years since we sat together in the cab of ..read more