Author: Scott D. Yost

Belews Lake is a very popular boating and partying spot for Guilford County residents – and it may get a lot more popular for them if Forsyth County moves forward with a proposed major park project on the lake.

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners is trying to save the county’s taxpayers an estimated $8 million by not having to purchase new voting machines by the end of the year – but, right now, it’s anyone’s guess whether they’ll have any luck in that attempt. 

The federal government shutdown has been over for quite some time, but it’s still having an impact on the schedule for food stamps – actually, the modern name is Food and Nutrition Services Benefits (FNS) – in Guilford County and across the state.

Would you like to be able to go on vacation or leave town on business without your home being broken into and all your valuables being hauled away by no-good thieves?

Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Alan Branson said this week that Guilford County commissioners should stop attempting to micromanage companies when those companies come to the county for incentives or when they bid on construction contracts or other contracts.

Keep it simple.

That was the philosophy of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners on Monday morning, March 18, when the board met with the Local Delegation of state legislators – those state representatives and senators with constituents in Guilford County.  Each year, the two groups of elected leaders get together in what is a chance for the county commissioners to express their main concerns to the legislators and for the group to explore ways the state can help the county.

If you love creeks – and who the heck doesn’t – then Saturday, March 23 through Saturday, March 30, Creek Week, is a time when you can really jump in to the festivities.  In fact, while some people may never have heard of Creek Week, in Guilford County it’s actually become a very large happening with a slew of water-related events going on all week long at parks, lakes, libraries, bars and other places.

With an early May opening set for the High Point Rockers baseball team, the city and the team are now ramping up the preseason festivities to make sure that there isn’t a person in the county who doesn’t know about the arrival of the new team that will be playing in a brand new stadium in downtown High Point this year.

This week, Guilford County officials reacted to a move by state Sens. Michael Garrett and Gladys Robinson to overturn the right of people, businesses and governments in Guilford County to meet legal requirements of public notice by posting those notices on Guilford County’s website rather than in paid-circulation print newspapers. 

Guilford County Commissioner Skip Alston is proposing that Guilford County pay $300,000 to $400,000 for a disparity study that he argues would help the county deal with its persistent problems of a lack of participation by minority-owned firms in Guilford County construction projects.

Despite a highly successful season that produced an impressive basketball resume that many thought would be enough to get the University of NC at Greensboro’s basketball team a bid to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament this year, UNCG was left standing at the alter after being nudged out of the big dance by the very narrowest of margins. 

Some problems can’t be fixed by a silver bullet; however, when it comes to problems faced by most governments, there’s almost always a silver bullet that works fantastically well – money.

After being out of existence for about three months, the Guilford County Board of Elections is back in business and bigger than ever – and it’s hopefully better than ever as well since it faces a lot of challenges in 2019 and 2020.  

This week Guilford County got a step closer to finding money for its coming new mental health care facility expected to cost about $20 million and open in two years.  The county is undertaking a massive initiative with Cone Health and other partners to provide mental health care in the county in a greatly improved way.

It’s not exactly winning the golden ticket in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,but it is at least something: On Thursday, March 21, one talented Guilford County school student – E. Anderson – will be awarded a $50 gift card from the county and will get recognition from the Board of Commissioners for being the kid out of all the others who came up with the artwork selected to be the cover of Guilford County’s 2019-2020 budget.

The Guilford County Board of Elections is in the business of putting on elections, but now, thanks to one wrinkle in the state’s new voter ID law, the elections board is about to get into a new business as well: that of photo ID maker.

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department is creating a new advisory group to get input from a broad spectrum of the community.  On Thursday, March 14, Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers announced the creation of a new “Sheriffs Advisory Roundtable.” 

Guilford County is implementing an entire new mental health delivery system and it looks now like the county will also create and fill a new position with a person who’ll essentially be the new mental health tsar.

Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) is not being affected by President Donald Trump’s executive order on Wednesday, March 13 to ground all Boeing 737 Max airplanes in the US.  

A report from the Guilford County Internal Audit Department has found no evidence that Sheriff BJ Barnes or his staff inappropriately destroyed documents or removed computers before the arrival of incoming Sheriff Danny Rogers in early December of last year.

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department has called a press conference for Thursday, March 14 – but the things the reporters want to ask about may not exactly be the things Sheriff Danny Rogers wants to talk about.

On Wednesday, March 13, former Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes forcefully and categorically denied claims that he and/or his staff inappropriately destroyed documents or removed computers from the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department’s offices or conducted other offenses that Sheriff Danny Rogers claimed were done as part of an effort to sabotage his transition.

It’s official: Guilford County has a location for the new mental health center the county is building as part of its major initiative to transform mental health care in the county.  According to agenda materials for the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Thursday, March 21 meeting, at that meeting the board will be called on to approve a property purchase for the new building that will house mental health services and beds for mental health patients.  The county is joining with Cone Health in that venture.

Summerfield Town Attorney Bill Hill has returned $943.50 to the Town of Summerfield over what he said was a mistake he felt at least partially responsible for.

The GreenHill Center for NC Art in downtown Greensboro has a full agenda this week in what just might pull some people away from the television screens and ACC basketball for a few hours each night.

After about two years of controversy over mountain biking in Rich Fork Preserve, followed by two more years of work on the property, Guilford County is now getting ready to open the long awaited park at 407 W. Parris Avenue in High Point.

Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers dropped in on the Summerfield Town Council on Tuesday, March 12 – the Town Council that the wife of former Sheriff BJ Barnes sits on – and dropped a bomb.  Rogers told the Town Council that, when he came in to assume the role of sheriff after Barnes’ defeat, he arrived to find computers removed and papers gone.

The Guilford County commissioners have a lot of things on their plate that they want to ask the State of North Carolina for help with – and now they’re going to get the chance to make those asks while looking the state legislators straight in the eye. 

North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea-Trail (MST) project got one step closer to completion recently when the Oak Ridge Town Council completed the first phase of the first section, approved more money for the project and announced plans to hold a grand opening celebration in May.

Just off the heels of the Guilford County Republican Party Convention, the brand new leadership of the local party is planning some major changes that include taking the meetings on the road, stronger fundraising efforts and a greater organization of the party at the precinct level.

By now, just about everyone knows that a recent school facilities study found that the Guilford County School system needs right at $1.5 billion for all the repairs, construction and other work it requires to operate at peak level – however, a development this week has added a new wrinkle in that challenge, which was already big enough to begin with.

The people of Oak Ridge have spoken and now it’s all up to the NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) – the decision whether or not to put a traffic circle in the middle of town, that is.

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department is putting a new emphasis on making sure it knows where sex offenders are located.  It’s double-checking its list to see that they are where they say they are.

One of the stated goals of new Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers is for the department be more open and transparent with the community – and, to that end, the department has hired a new public information officer (PIO).

The International Civil Rights Center and Museum in downtown Greensboro is best known for its dedication to, and remembrance of, the struggle of African-Americans for freedom and civil rights – however, this month, which is Women’s History Month, the museum is turning its attention to another group of people who have had to struggle mightily to break through societal barriers: women.

Much ballyhooed plans for a major new municipal water system for northwest Guilford County are looking a lot right now like they are – well, dead in the water.

The Town of Summerfield has grown a lot in recent years and now the town’s leaders are discussing a new project – finding a new town hall.

The Greensboro Men’s Club, a storied club that goes back 92 years, is holding a new event to honor two great local African-American men as well as raise some money for the club’s scholarship programs.  On Friday, April 26 the Men’s Club will hold the first “Blount/Frye Golf Classic” at Bryan Park Golf Course.

The Guilford County Health Department is getting ready to conduct more water tests to make certain that well water in areas of western Greensboro is safe. 

For months and months, Guilford County commissioners have been talking about the wisdom of implementing Cure Violence – a proposed program meant to reduce violence in high-crime, inner-city areas – and this week Guilford County Commissioner Skip Alston said he expects to see much more clarity on the county’s intentions within the next two weeks.

They say that every dog has its day, and now, thanks to a new bill introduced in the state legislature, dogs may soon enjoy a new freedom – the right to stroll unencumbered into taprooms across North Carolina.

The doctor is in.

The Guilford County Health Department has just named a new assistant director who will play a vital role in that department – which has the responsibility of keeping the county’s citizens healthy, monitoring environmental concerns and combating disease.

Recently, Guilford County awarded a major $12-million construction contract to a company that plans on using virtually no black-owned firms for the work, and now a commissioner, Carolyn Coleman, is saying that’s completely unacceptable and the county’s practices must change going forward.

The Bible says ask and you shall receive and that’s exactly what happened to the group of state legislators who, on Thursday, March 7, held a town hall meeting at Greensboro City Hall: They asked for input from the public and they sure got what they asked for.

There’s an old adage that says when you get thrown off a horse you need to get back in the saddle right away, and it’s now looking a lot like former Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes has adopted that philosophy: Sources close to Barnes say he is strongly considering running for mayor of Summerfield this year. 

Local leaders are saying that a new career and technical education pilot program proposed this week by legislators could be a huge step forward for Guilford County.

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners does a lot of interesting work but that level of interest got bumped up a notch recently when the board was presented with an eye-opening – or rather casket-opening – task: Dig up a dead body and move it.

Earlier this year, a major new facilities study of Guilford County Schools found that the school system needed nearly $1.5 billion in repairs, new buildings and other enhancements.  And it’s now becoming clear how school officials will justify that major new expense.