The official unveiling of the new name for the Winston-Salem minor league baseball franchise Dec. 4 was as well orchestrated as the four-piece Dixieland band that played Take Me Out to the Ballgame and When the Saints Go Marching In for the hundreds crammed into the Millennium Center.

Jake Holloway needs a title. He's not politicking for one - it's probably never even entered his mind - but he deserves one nonetheless. His predecessor, Mel Lanford, the man who taught him the tricks of the trade, had one. Mel, as many patrons of War Memorial Stadium will remember fondly, was the "Doctor of Dirt," so it's only fitting that Jake have one too.

Recent statements by a Greensboro city councilwoman and former police officer, coupled with those of a former Ku Klux Klan exalted cyclops who worked as a paid informant for the FBI, add support to a widely held belief that police intentionally allowed Klansmen and Nazis to attack a march convened by communist labor activists in the African-American public housing community of Morningside Homes in 1979.

Recent statements by a Greensboro city councilwoman and former police officer, coupled with those of a former Ku Klux Klan exalted cyclops who worked as a paid informant for the FBI, add support to a widely held belief that police intentionally allowed Klansmen and Nazis to attack a march convened by communist labor activists in the African-American public housing community of Morningside Homes in 1979.

On a bulletin board in the copy room hangs a grid of Polaroids depicting every person who works for the company, including Kermit Murphy's son David, who holds the position of president, and his daughter Janet, a vice president of customer service, along with 67 other smiling faces whose responsibilities range from driving trucks to creating flavors. Kermit, now 90 years old and semi-retired, still checks in on the plant on a regular basis.

On a bulletin board in the copy room hangs a grid of Polaroids depicting every person who works for the company, including Kermit Murphy's son David, who holds the position of president, and his daughter Janet, a vice president of customer service, along with 67 other smiling faces whose responsibilities range from driving trucks to creating flavors. Kermit, now 90 years old and semi-retired, still checks in on the plant on a regular basis.

There aren't many fuel meters in Greensboro that were reclaimed by Piedmont Natural Gas for lack of use. There aren't many roosters named Ben or cats named Kitty or hens that were eaten by hawks in the last couple weeks...

The writer bursts in unannounced, notepad and tape recorder in hand, moments after the Nashville star has finished a live radio interview. The radio personality, Dusty Dunn, introduces the writer and, rather than telling him to wait his turn, the star offers his hand and says, "I've got a guitarist in my band by that name. You any kin to Timmy Overman...

It's chilly outside the Red Oak Brew Pub despite the sun doing its feeble best to warm the cool air. People sit on the veranda with their faces turned upwards as if determined to wring the very last drop of warmth from the pale shimmering disc, and so a cool Sunday afternoon drifts into a cold Sunday night...

A bitterly cold wind chilled the protesters at the corner of West Market and Eugene streets in downtown Greensboro on Nov. 20 as they gathered on the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution in response to a call for international displays of solidarity by the Mexican Zapatist Army of National Liberation...

For anyone who doesn't know about the Tom Joyner Sky Show, a quick bit of advice: When the next one comes around, set the alarm, drink all the coffee you can get your hands on and make sure you are bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and standing in line for tickets...

The debate over the United States' growing ethnic diversity will rage on despite (or because of) the outcome of last week's election, but one thing is certain: rock music, like a nation, needs periodic injections of new ideas if it's to avoid becoming stale...

Death is a place where the party's just getting started. That's the way Greensboro horror writer Stephen Mark Rainey sees it anyway.

It's called the ripple effect. And Barbara MacKay-Vinson is the pebble in the pond that creates the ever-widening concentric ripples. She is the beacon, emitting rays of hope, illuminating the darkest hour just before dawn...

Down a dusty road in rural Randolph County, a microcosm of Southeast Asia is taking shape, thanks to the work of thousands of Montagnards, former members of the Special Forces and several community volunteers. And on Sunday, hundreds of Montagnards, who hail from Vietnam's Central Highlands, joined together with American veterans of the Vietnam War for a toast to that culture's health.

If the old saying that goes, "The first time only happens once" has a corollary, it would be: "So does the last." And by their singular nature, both the first and last occurrence - of anything - are deemed special...

Rodney "Bo" Richards was to me a friend, a co-worker and a bandmate. More importantly, Bo was a brother. He was a person I could count on in a pinch and lean on when things went bad. Bo was the other half of the rhythm section, my other half when we played together in the Five L's...

Greek culture is perhaps best known in the United States for its hallmark foodstuffs: gyros, spanikopita and baklava among others. Thanks to Hollywood, the Mediterranean people have also become closely associated with lavish wedding celebrations, complete with gourmet spreads, dancing and spirit...

Following the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, the Emmy Awards show was postponed and rescheduled twice before the relatively somber ceremony finally took place...

Day OneIt's a few minutes after 10 p.m. and the Tiny Meteors should be starting their set at Sternberger Auditorium on the Guilford College campus. But instead they are about a half mile away, stuck at a red light on College Avenue...