Author: Scott D. Yost

For years, area elected officials and other community leaders have preached about the importance of economic development in Guilford County and the need for a lot more of it – and, now, on Thursday, June 27, there will be a “Guilford County Economic Development Summit” that will be a joint meeting of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, the Greensboro City Council, the High Point City Council, economic development officials, area business leaders and more.

On Thursday, May 23, Sebastian King announced that he is forming an exploratory campaign initiative for the NC Senate District 27 seat.

An inmate at the Guilford County jail in High Point is dead by hanging in an apparent suicide.  Joseph William Martin was pronounced dead at approximately 11 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21 at Moses Cone Hospital after being discovered hanging in his cell this weekend.

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners wants you.Specifically, the board wants you to tell it what you think of the 2019-2020 budget proposed by Guilford County Manager Marty Lawing. To get that input, the board has scheduled not one but two public hearings for Thursday, June 6.

The major collaborative effort to co-brand four megasites in central North Carolina – two of those in Guilford County – and bring more jobs and economic development to the region, took another step forward on Tuesday, May 22, when partners in the “Carolina Core” initiative hosted a delegation of the state’s top-ranking economic development officials for the day.

In recent months, there have been a lot of questions in the local immigrant community and on social media as to exactly what position the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department holds on immigration issues. 

Guilford County, which has been under fire in recent months for a lack of minority participation in its construction and service contracts, has just hired a new purchasing director who’ll now become one of a very few female African-American directors in Guilford County government. 

Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) and the region around it woke up to some very good news on Monday morning, May 20: HondaJet – a division of Honda Aircraft Company – announced plans for a $15.5-million expansion at the company’s global headquarters at PTIA. 

For about two years, Guilford County and three towns in the county’s northwest – Oak Ridge, Summerfield and Stokesdale – have been in talks to create a unified and expansive water system that would cover the water needs of much of that part of the county.

The event in downtown Greensboro on Saturday, May 18 was called a “Blues Festival,” but, from the looks of it, no one who attended was blue.

On Tuesday, May 14, the Summerfield Town Council extended the severance package of Town Manager Scott Whitaker from six months to a year in case he’s terminated without cause. 

On Thursday, May 16, Guilford County Manager Marty Lawing handed over his budget proposal for fiscal 2019-2020, and one part of that budget calls for the county to spend $765,000 in taxpayer money on area economic development efforts. 

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department had a harrowing ordeal in Summerfield on Thursday night when a fake hostage situation ended with an accused felon shooting himself in a shed.

If something seems too good to be true, it usually is and on Thursday, May 16, the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team found out that they were not, after all, a miracle team of destiny hand-picked by God to win the 2019 Stanley Cup. 

Everyone loves a parade, but the people in Summerfield really love their Founder’s Day Parade.  And they’re looking forward to a lot of sights and sounds and excitement on Saturday, May 18 at 10 a.m. when things get underway in Summerfield – a small town with a big parade each and every year. 

On Thursday, May 16, Guilford County Manager Marty Lawing presented the Guilford County Board of Commissioners with his proposed 2019-2020 budget totaling $627,418,000.

On Tuesday, May 14, the Summerfield Town Council met and Summerfield Mayor Gail Dunham was clearly displeased with one move made toward the end of the meeting – a vote to amend Summerfield Town Manager Scott Whitaker’s contract to increase the severance pay he gets from six months to a year, and to do the same with his benefits.

Do you want to weigh in on noise around the airport and do so in an official capacity?  Well, now’s your chance.

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department is requesting that Guilford County expand a program established to help former inmates and prisoners reenter society and become law-abiding, productive members of it.  

Guilford County is about to get it’s first nationally recognized Child Trauma Recovery Center, a place where kids can get treatment, counseling and other help needed to deal with traumatic experiences.  That can be anything from bullying or experiencing natural disasters, to physical or sexual abuse, to the loss of a parent or sibling.

Well, they haven’t fallen completely yet – but the Carolina Hurricanes Hockey team, which just last week looked utterly invincible, is now on the opposite end of the spectrum. 

Everyone knows it’s April showers that bring May flowers but it’s likely to be economic growth that is now bringing expansion requests from area landfills. 

Former High Point Mayor Bill Bencini said this week that the success of the last two years in his city has brought a new energy and vitality to High Point, and he added that he and others have been stunned at the speed and effectiveness of recent economic development efforts.

Former Guilford County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Edward Melvin, who was recently willing to speak on many matters related to his two months with the department when contacted by the Rhino Times, didn’t wish to comment publicly on his resignation or the reasons behind it – however, the timing of the decision and other sources in the department shed some light on that decision. 

Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers and former Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Edward Melvin may have served side by side during Rogers’ first two months as sheriff, but on many things the two don’t see eye to eye. That fact is now crystal clear after Melvin, who resigned suddenly earlier in February after serving just over two months under Rogers, agreed to speak with the Rhino Times regarding a number of key issues that have been the subject of a great deal of public debate in recent months.

It’s either a sign of fantastic governance or an alarm bell – take your pick – but the fact is this:  The Piedmont Triad Airport Authority is always in complete agreement on every issue that comes before it. 

A Greensboro educator got a big honor this week: Dr. Ward Ulmer, who’s been a teacher for the past two decades and has lived in Greensboro for the past 15 years, has been named the new president of Walden University.

This week the NC House of Representatives voted unanimously in favor of a bill that would designate the battleship the USS North Carolina as the official battleship of the state of North Carolina.

On Friday, May 10, there was a lot of discussion going on behind the scenes between Republican Guilford County commissioners on one pressing question: Should they or shouldn’t they?

Former City of Greensboro Attorney Tom Carruthers has a new job in local government: Carruthers, who resigned from the city attorney position with Greensboro in the fall of 2018, has now taken a job working as an assistant county attorney for Guilford County government.

It’s official: Former Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes is running for mayor of Summerfield – a town that’s been in the midst of a highly divisive political war for the past two years.

If you thought bipartisan cooperation in the NC General Assembly was dead – well, think again: On Tuesday, May 7, state legislators in the NC House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill put forth by state Rep. Jon Hardister and several other sponsors to make the Moravian cookie the official state cookie of North Carolina.   It now looks like the cookie has a clear path to obtaining that lofty status.

Be wary of any phone calls from the Sherriff’s Department. That’s the message from – well, from the Sheriff’s Department.

A Tale of Two Cities was published in 1859 but it was on Tuesday, May 7, 2019 that there was a tale of two local governments – one that was clearly ready to move ahead on the spot with funding for a proposed new Cure Violence program in Greensboro, and another that had a whole lot more questions before being ready for the two governments to commit more than a half-million dollars to start up the program.

The Greensboro Children’s Museum in downtown Greensboro is meant to be for children but the museum itself is turning 20 this year – and it’s celebrating that fact with a time capsule that will remain buried for a half a century.  As part of the Children’s Museum 20th Birthday Celebration, on Wednesday, May 15, from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., the museum will be collecting and displaying items from downtown businesses that will go into the time capsule.

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners hasn’t raised property taxes in seven years and it’s highly unlikely the board will do so this year.Now, about those user fees…

The High Point Rockers baseball team has only been playing ball for about a week but already the team has skyrocketed into the national limelight.

The amazing run continues.On Friday night, May 2, just after 9:30 p.m., the Carolina Hurricanes did away with the New York Islanders 5-2 in front of an absolutely bonkers home crowd in Raleigh.  That victory meant that the Hurricanes, who weren’t even expected to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year, swept the New York Islanders four games to none in the seven-game series.

One thing no city or county can get too much of is unity.  And one group with a mouthful of a name – “Understanding the Needs of Inclusion Takes Everyone,” or UNITE – is ready once again to put on the annual event in downtown Greensboro meant to ‘unite’ organizations from across Guilford County – and outside its borders as well.

Just as a great deal of the media’s medical attention was being taken up by the outbreaks of measles across the country, on Friday, May 3, the NC Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) gave everyone in the state another medical threat to worry about – chronic viral hepatitis.

Springtime, with its sunshine and warm temperatures, is usually a time when area residents get pretty happy – however, one area group wants you to get the blues at least once this spring: On Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19, the Piedmont Blues Preservation Society is putting on the 33rd Annual Carolina Blues Festival at LeBauer Park at 208 N. Davie St. in downtown Greensboro.

The High Point Rockers opened their brand new downtown stadium in grand style on Thursday, May 2 with a 3-0 victory over the defending league champions on a night when seemingly everyone in the High Point area came out to watch the Rockers first home game in history.

The big day is finally here and the High Point Rockers are ready to rock.

This month, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department will recognize all law enforcement officers who have died or been disabled in the line of duty with special events on Thursday, May 2 and Thursday, May 16. 

Summerfield Town Attorney Bill Hill has turned in his resignation.Hill, who has served in that position for 14 years, often found himself in the middle of a bitterly divided Summerfield Town Council.  The town has been making news for two straight years due to its current high level of discord over several major issues – most notably disagreements regarding the long running battle with former Summerfield Town Councilmember Todd Rotruck who was removed from the council in April 2017 after the Guilford County Board of Elections determined that Rotruck did not live in Summerfield.

The big baseball game that will open High Point’s brand new downtown stadium isn’t until Thursday, May 2 – however, on Tuesday, April 30, there was a lot of excitement among High Point officials thanks to an announcement that only came about due to the stadium’s existence.  

A major runway renovation project at Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) will shut down the airport’s main runway through the summer and that means the noise patterns around the airport will shift – bringing new noise from above to some residents and meaning a little more peace and quiet for others.

Daebak.In Korean, that means something that’s “big, positive and great.”

Sunday, April 28 proved to be a historic day for the High Point Rockers baseball team: It was the first time in history that the team ever lost a game.  Until then the Rockers had a perfect record.