Author: Scott D. Yost

n Thursday night, Feb. 4, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners will hold a special meeting in High Point, and the first item on the agenda will be symbolic – the adoption of a resolution honoring the Civil Rights Movement and commemorating both the Greensboro and High Point sit-ins of 1960.

The Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins at the F.W. Woolworth store on South Elm Street are…

n Thursday, Feb. 4, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners will hold a special meeting in High Point – something the board tries to do once a year since it’s the county’s second-largest city – and they’ll be doing so just after reaching an important milestone in the county’s fiscal calendar.

The end of December marked the halfway point of the county’s fiscal year, which began July 1, and county budget staff have now released their formal midyear Budget Performance Report….

Former Guilford County Commissioner Ray Trapp has taken a new job that brings him back to the Triad and back into a role centered on community, relationships and long-term impact.

Boys & Girls Clubs of the Greater Triad announced this week that Trapp has been named vice president of advancement – a senior leadership position that will focus on fundraising and development, brand management, and communications as the organization pushes forward with an ambitious regional expansion across High Point, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Asheboro and the surrounding communities…

If you needed official permission to stay home Monday, you’ve got it.

Guilford County announced that all general county services, operations and facilities will be closed on Monday, Feb. 2, because of snowy and icy road conditions across the county.

At the same time, the City of Greensboro said all trash, recycling and yard waste collection scheduled for Monday has been postponed…

On Friday, Jan. 31, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners held its annual retreat and heard from an economic development expert – who had both advice and warnings for Guilford County as it moves forward and faces serious challenges in the coming years.

The presentation was delivered by Ted Abernathy, managing partner of Economic Leadership LLC, a nationally known consulting firm that works with states, regions and private companies on economic and workforce strategy….

In October of 2025, Guilford County announced that Andrea Leslie-Fite accepted the position of City Attorney for the City of Charlotte, with her last day in Guilford County being Halloween, 2025. 

In the meantime, former Interim County Attorney Matt Mason, who had just had a very nice retirement celebration, came back soon after to run the attorney’s office once again.  Now perhaps Mason can enjoy a truly well-deserved retirement….

A Jamestown man is now facing multiple felony charges after a shooting early Wednesday morning that left another man critically injured.

According to the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded at approximately 12:20 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, to a reported shooting at 5305 Lenard Road in Jamestown.

According to Sheriff Danny Rogers, the caller reported that Evan Keith Aldridge, 31, had been shot by his roommate, Scott Alan Fanter, 44….

Guilford County government is facing a lot of challenges – mostly financial – ones that will only worsen in the coming years, so it’s good to know that the county has made an excellent hiring decision by promoting one of its wisest and most likeable employees to the level of deputy county manager.

Guilford County has named current Budget Director Toy Beeninga as its new deputy county manager – elevating a longtime member of the county’s leadership team into a role which requires broad oversight across departments and regional initiatives…

The City of Greensboro says that years of monitoring, enforcement and cooperation with local industries have led to a 97 percent reduction in levels of 1,4-dioxane – an unregulated, emerging contaminant – in wastewater discharged into the local environment.

According to a city press release, Greensboro’s Water Resources Department has reduced concentrations of 1,4-dioxane in effluent from the T.Z. Osborne Wastewater Treatment Plant by 97 percent since 2015….

The City of Greensboro remained under its full Snow and Ice Response Plan Monday night as crews reported major progress clearing roads following Winter Storm Fern – while also opening White Flag warming centers to protect residents from freezing overnight temperatures.

According to the city, crews cleared 96 percent of Priority 1 roads to bare pavement during the past 24 hours – roughly 1,130 miles of emergency service routes, multi-lane roads and other high-traffic corridors….

Guilford County offices and facilities will open under normal operating hours on Wednesday, January 28, county officials announced, as conditions improve following recent winter weather.

There are two exceptions…

Guilford County Schools will shift to remote learning on Tuesday, Jan. 27, because of hazardous road conditions across the county.

According to Guilford County Schools, all students will learn remotely for the day…

Guilford County administrative offices will open at noon Tuesday, Jan. 27, due to anticipated early morning road and weather conditions.

County officials said that the delayed opening is intended to allow time for conditions to improve before employees and residents travel to county facilities…..

According to the city, residents who normally receive trash pickup on Monday and Tuesday should place their carts at the curb by 7 a.m. on Wednesday, January 28. Pickup will begin then.

Though officials say some areas may not be serviced until Thursday, January 29…

The City of Greensboro is seeking proposals from community organizations aimed at reducing violence and strengthening public safety through locally led initiatives.

The city’s Community Safety Department has issued a Request for Proposals for a range of anti-violence programs – with funding that’s provided through a federal Department of Justice grant focused on community violence intervention and prevention…

Guilford County has declared a local State of Emergency ahead of a potentially significant winter storm that’s expected to impact the Triad this weekend, and county officials are warning residents to prepare now for snow, ice and possible power outages.

The declaration took effect on noon Thursday, January 22, 2026, and is intended to give emergency responders time to stage equipment and supplies before conditions deteriorate…

After more than a year of operating out of a temporary courthouse location, Guilford County officials say the Family Justice Center is preparing to move back home.

Beginning Thursday, Jan. 22, the Guilford County Family Justice Center Courthouse Pop-Up, located inside the Guilford County Courthouse, will close. The pop-up site will be shut down Thursday and Friday, Jan. 22 and Jan. 23, as staff prepare to relocate services back to the Katie S. Cashion Center at 201 S. Greene St….

When you work as a deputy for the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office, you’re supposed to enforce the laws not break them – however, according to court records  and Vice and Narcotics officer – Lenaira Montea Ruffin – was arrested and charged with Driving While Impaired by the Burlington Police Department. 

The results of the administered breath test came in at 0.24, which is three times the 0.08 limit in the state of North Carolina…

Many people who like saying “Let it snow, let it snow,” look like they are about to get their wish.

A significant winter storm expected to move into central North Carolina this weekend could bring snow, ice and dangerous travel conditions across the Piedmont Triad, prompting airport officials and emergency planners to urge residents to prepare now and think twice before heading out….

Wow.

Just wow.

If you thought Guilford County had its hands full overseeing and funding $2 billion in school bond projects, a new Sheriff’s Office headquarters and lots of other ongoing projects – well, at a Thursday, Jan. 15 work session, county staff unveiled plans for another huge undertaking: Demolishing the county-owned Truist Bank building in downtown Greensboro, building a new Guilford County government complex and moving most administrative functions there…

On Friday, Jan. 16, a line of cars was backing up Lawndale Drive traffic as fans of Clutch Coffee Bar stacked up to get one last cup of their favorite coffee – or coffee-adjacent drink – at the Sunset Drive location in Greensboro.

By the end of the day, the lights were off, the drive-thru window was closed, and Clutch Coffee Bar’s Greensboro outpost was officially done.

The Sunset Drive location is now closed, and it won’t be reopening under the Clutch name…

The 36th Annual Greensboro NAACP Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade will take place Monday, Jan. 19, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., continuing a tradition that traces directly back to the renaming of one of Greensboro’s major thoroughfares more than three decades ago.

The parade is sponsored by the Greensboro Branch of the NAACP and will once again travel, of course, along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive – a street whose name, and the parade itself, exist largely because of the persistence of Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston…

Guilford County commissioners are set to approve a one-month extension of the county’s contract with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Center for Housing and Community Studies at their Thursday, Jan. 15 meeting in order to allow the full use of remaining federal pandemic relief funds without committing any new local dollars…

If you have business with the city to handle on Monday, you can forget about conducting it then and you might be wise to go out and enjoy a parade instead.

City of Greensboro offices will be closed Monday, January 19, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day – with a wide range of city services operating on holiday or modified schedules…

Greensboro residents – and Verizon customers in many other parts of the country as well – learned on Wednesday, Jan. 14, just how dependent they are on their cell phones and the phone service provided through them.  For many Verizon customers, they may as well have been carrying around a light brick because a cell phone without cell phone services is like sex without, well, without the sex…

Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers has been dreaming of – and working toward – the day when he and his leadership team could finally move out of the dilapidated, flood-prone and, depending on who you ask, possibly haunted Otto Zenke Building, which has served as the Sheriff’s Office headquarters for decades.

That day has arrived…

After more than two decades on the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, Kay Cashion has decided not to seek another term – which will end one of the longest and most influential tenures in modern Guilford County government.

The filing period for the 2026 election has closed and Cashion’s name isn’t on the list of candidates…

Guilford County tax officials are beginning a public education push ahead of the countywide 2026 property value reappraisal announcements – an event that’s drawn heightened attention after the sharp increases many homeowners saw during the last revaluation.

The Guilford County Tax Department publicized this week that it will hold a series of Tax Reappraisal Educational Meetings later in January to explain how the upcoming reappraisal will work and to let property owners know what to expect…

By now, everyone knows the definition of insanity, and Guilford County government is once again doing the same thing and expecting different results: The Guilford County Board of Commissioners has instructed county staff to come up with a well thought out and rational policy as to which non-profits should get county tax money and which should not.

It is now almost time again for non-profits that want funding to let the county know. ..

Guilford County health officials have confirmed three cases of animal rabies in the first week of 2026, prompting renewed warnings to residents about avoiding wildlife and ensuring pets are properly vaccinated.

The Guilford County Health and Human Services Department announced earlier this week that a cat on Apple Wyrick Road in Gibsonville tested positive for rabies, marking the county’s first confirmed case of the year. The rabies virus was confirmed on January 5…

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office is investigating two in-custody deaths at the Greensboro Detention Center that occurred within a span of less than two weeks, according to information released by the sheriff’s office.

Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers reported this week that, on Christmas Eve, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025, detention staff discovered Jimmy Wilkerson – a 65-year-old Black man – in medical distress inside his cell…

You’ll probably want to be sitting down in a few weeks when you open your notice from the county regarding how much the Guilford County Tax Department believes your house or other property is worth.  

According to preliminary numbers, which are said to have held up to the end of the year, on average, property values in the county were up about 48 percent – and housing was a segment said by tax officials to be coming in even higher than that…

The Greensboro Parks Foundation has entered into a new partnership with the Guilford County Veterans Memorial in order to support a major restoration and expansion of the Guilford County Veterans Memorial at Country Park.

Under the agreement, the Veterans Memorial has been designated a “Community Impact Partner” of the Greensboro Parks Foundation – giving the project fiscal sponsorship, fundraising assistance and administrative support as the memorial undertakes a comprehensive capital campaign….

Bestselling author and former Rhino Times writer Jerry Bledsoe passed away on New Year’s Eve at the age of 84.

Bledsoe, who was best known for his true crime books such as Bitter Blood, also shed light on misconduct in the Greensboro Police Department in his lengthy series for the Rhino Times, Cops in Black and White.

Bledsoe’s career was defined by a willingness to take on powerful institutions and tell stories that others either wouldn’t or couldn’t tell…

The Humane Society of the Piedmont announced recently that its push into affordable, full-service veterinary care is paying off – both for the pets and the people who love them.

The organization stated in a recent newsletter that its full-service veterinary clinic has now been operating for over a year, and has been providing low-cost medical care to pets across the Piedmont.

The clinic handles routine wellness visits for puppies and kittens as well as treatment for sick animals whose owners might otherwise struggle to afford care…

When Congress approved the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021, Guilford County government got a one-time allocation of just over $104 million, an unprecedented one-time infusion of federal money that was intended to help local governments respond to the public health emergency, stabilize essential services and address longer-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Guilford County’s ARPA tracking dashboard, all $104.34 million has now been formally allocated and obligated to specific projects….

It’s been almost a decade since the Carolina Panthers went to the playoffs; however, this year they have a chance not only to do that but to also be division champions.

And the entire season now may come down to one game.

So far in the 2025-2026 season, the Panthers have displayed promise, frustration and inconsistency – and the game Saturday will likely determine whether the team returns to the playoffs or heads into another long offseason….

Free parking in downtown Greensboro has been shrinking for years, but the latest move by the City of Greensboro makes it worse – much more of what used to be easy, free parking is about to cost you money.

The city, playing the Grinch, announced just before Christmas that several downtown surface parking lots will become paid parking beginning in 2026.  This is in keeping with recommendations from the City of Greensboro’s Downtown Parking Plan that was created in 2024…

The City of Greensboro has rolled out its latest violence-prevention initiative: the Greensboro Collaborative Action Network – or GSO CAN – a new community-based effort that city officials say is designed to move beyond traditional law enforcement responses and focus on collaboration and prevention…

Rep. John Blust – and a lot of other people in Guilford County – have said recently that, with...

The Rhino Times will be taking its annual Christmas break next week.

After working diligently throughout the year – covering county government, city halls, small towns, elections, budgets, zoning battles, development fights, investigations, and all the other things local officials would sometimes probably prefer we ignore – we’re going to step away for a few days, spend time with family, do some Christmas shopping, and recharge a bit.

If Summerfield were an ice cream, it would be Rocky Road, but now it appears as though things are calming down, the town is unlikely to lose its charter, and city leaders are moving forward with a new comprehensive plan that hopefully will be acceptable to most of the town’s residents.

For a town that’s spent the last several years fighting for its very existence, simply moving forward now feels like quite an accomplishment….

The City of Greensboro is playing it safe when it comes to the protection of apartment residents who were living in some very bad and dangerous conditions: It has ordered the evacuation and closure of a multifamily housing complex at 830 W. Market St. after city inspectors found multiple building and fire code violations that city officials say pose a serious risk to public safety…

The situation regarding trash, recycling and yard waste collection in the city of Greensboro has been a major topic of heated discussion for years – with that conversation touching on everything from the fact that the city doesn’t allow streetside recycling of glass bottles, to the way it collects leaves, to the fact that AI cameras are now looking through your recycled materials to find out who’s doing it wrong…

On Thursday, Dec. 18, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners is expected to adopt a new three-year agreement that will further expand the county’s use of aerial imaging technology to identify unreported buildings and property improvements for tax purposes.

That way they can figure out who’s been naughty or nice when it comes to informing the Tax Department…

Two billion dollars in school bond money – over three billion when you factor in interest – is certainly not going as far as voters hoped it would when they approved massive school bond referendums in 2020 and 2022.  A lot of projects voters hoped to see with that money aren’t getting done and the commissioners are already talking about putting a new school bond referendum on the ballot in the not too distant future. 

That one is expected to come in at around $550 million…

Former Vice President Kamala Harris – and defeated presidential candidate and perhaps future presidential candidate – is coming back to Greensboro early next year as part of an expanded national tour for her book 107 Days, with a stop scheduled for Tuesday, February 3, 2026, at the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts…

The City of Greensboro has launched a new effort that could shape the future of the Glenwood neighborhood for decades to come, issuing a Request for Interest for the sale and redevelopment of several city-owned properties – including the former Glenwood United Methodist Church site.

The RFI, released Wednesday by the city’s Housing and Neighborhood Development Department, is seeking qualified developers, nonprofit organizations or other interested parties to propose…