Author: Scott D. Yost

Don’t be too alarmed by the headline – someone will come when you call 911 starting later this year, but it may not be Emergency Services or law enforcement or a fire truck.

Summer is the time for beach trips and ice cream, but, for beavers, it’s a great time to bring down some trees and build dams on your property – and cause you a bunch of headaches.  

As the Guilford County Board of Commissioners enters the final stretch of negotiations on the county’s fiscal 2023-2024 budget – scheduled to be adopted at the board’s Thursday, June 15 meeting – one huge question remains.

One of the goals of the current leadership of Guilford County is to improve communications with residents, and that’s why a county that had no public relations specialist not that many years ago now has a full-fledged department for that purpose.

Everyone knows that Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston is the most powerful person in Guilford County government.

Summer may be a down time for schools, but for the High Point Public Library Summer is anything but that.

Flag Day in US isn’t always treated as a big event, however the High Point Farmers Market – in partnership with the Alexander Martin Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution – is making a big deal out of it this year. 

Guilford County North Carolina was founded in 1771 and, taking into account all of those years of existence, County Manager Mike Halford is the best manager the county has ever had.

Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston said on Tuesday, June 6, that it’s time the cities of Greensboro and High Point, and all Guilford County’s towns, to help fund Guilford County Schools. 

Everyone knows that there are all sorts of threats out there from severe weather to Chinese weather balloons to wildfires and building collapses – you name it.

If you just saw the value of your house or business property skyrocket on the tax rolls because of the 2022 countywide revaluation – well, hold onto your hats because the past revaluation didn’t really capture how high the value of property in the county had risen. 

Guilford County’s operations at its large Maple Street building – where the Department of Health and Human Services is located – is critical to Guilford County government. 

Guilford County government has been sparing no expense in its efforts to use more Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) companies whenever the county buys products or undertakes construction, renovation or repair projects.

A lot of people don’t know what goes on behind the walls of the Guilford County Juvenile Detention Center.

On Wednesday, May 31, at the State Emergency Operations Center in Wake County, there was a whole lot of training going on in an effort to prepare leaders from all over the state to deal with whatever emergency might transpire in their counties.

In late 2022 and early 2023, Guilford County staff, including County Manager Mike Halford and the Budget Department, worked tirelessly to put together a fair, rational and coherent policy to determine which community-based organizations (CBOs) – nonprofits that provide services that benefit the public – would receive funding in the county budget. 

Duke Energy has a legitimate program that hooks its power customers up with trusted affiliate contractors who do work such as heating and air unit repair and installation, plumbing, insulation services and more.

Just about everyone who’s been to the grocery store in the past two years has been alarmed by the rise in the prices of their favorite foods.

Not that many years ago, Guilford County’s Minority and Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) utilization efforts were all handled by an assistant director in the Purchasing Department who had other duties as well.

In an effort to raise transparency in the Guilford County jails in Greensboro and High Point, the county is spending $171,000 to equip detention officers with body worn cameras. Sheriff’s Department officials argue that the move will make the interactions between guards and inmates more civil and also provide an ability to better assess behavior of those working and living in the jail.

The Guilford County Division of Public Health might not like it very much, but the rest of Guilford County government is trying to get you to eat a lot of ice cream next week. On Thursday, June 8, from 6 to 8 p.m. Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream at 3332 W. Friendly Ave. in Greensboro is holding the third annual Camp HOPE Ice Cream Night Fundraiser. 

June is finally here and that can mean only one thing – trips to the beach.  Well, actually, the arrival of June can mean more than one thing and, in Guilford County this year, it means that Guilford Creek Week is upon us.

Guilford County Manager Mike Halford really knows how to pack a room, and he did so on Thursday, June 1, when the commissioners’ meeting room in the old Guilford County Court House was full of people who came to convince the Board of Commissioners to allocate more money to Guilford County Schools. 

Guilford County Commissioner James Upchurch is running in the Republican primary for state auditor, and, if you are political opponent who wants to criticize him, now is the perfect time to do so – because he can’t say anything back. 

At the Thursday, June 1 public hearing on the Guilford County manager’s proposed budget, the entire commissioners meeting room on the second floor of the Old Guilford County Court House was packed to the rafters – because the overflow crowd had to sit in the balcony – and the people were there to ask the commissioners for millions and millions more in funding for Guilford County Schools.

During a special work session in August of last year, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners approved spending $200,000 to install fire hydrants in the county and, on Thursday, June 1 of this year, the board voted to enter into an agreement with the City of High Point to do just that.

In the case of the two Republican members of the Guilford County Board of Education who are suing the seven Democratic members of the board, the two, along with Michael Logan – the Guilford County Schools teacher who was chosen by the Guilford County Republican Party to fill the District 3 vacancy on the board – have released a statement regarding the lawsuit.

It’s probably pretty intimidating when a large group of sheriffs show up at your door asking for something – and you’re likely to be inclined to give it to them. 

Leaders in Greensboro, High Point and Guilford County have all been putting a major focus on the issue of homelessness this year.

The big news out of the Guilford County Board of Education is that the two Republican board members are suing the other seven members in order to remove District 3 board member Bill Goebel from that seat and replace him with teacher Michael Logan – the man selected by the local Republican Party to fill a vacancy created last year.

In honor of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, which will be observed on Thursday, June 15, the Guilford County Family Justice Center’s Elder Justice Committee is asking people in the county to send in nominations for the 2023 Elder Justice Champion Award.

The seven Democratic members of the Guilford County Board of Education just got a very unwelcome notice right as they were winding down for an enjoyable summer vacation. 

Over the last two years, Guilford County government has made a priority out of improving the health and survival rate of minority and other children born in the county and that program is reaping results and getting national attention. 

Republican Guilford County Board of Education Members Crissy Pratt and Linda Welborn – along with the man selected by the Guilford County Republican Party to fill a vacancy on that board – are suing the seven other members of the school board, including new District 3 member Bill Goebel who filled that seat.

Guilford County has had a fantastic run when it comes to attracting economic development projects in recent years, but area leaders and business recruitment officials say there’s a lot more where that came from. 

The name of the organization, “Growing High Point,” makes it sound like the group is another one of the seemingly hundreds of economic development promotion groups in central North Carolina.

There are a lot of things in life that are hard to get rid of – emotional baggage, ex-boyfriends and girlfriends who won’t take no for an answer, boomerangs, etc

The City of High Point is working hard to become known for things other than furniture, but city leaders are still delighted by the fact that Eichholtz

The race to become the state of North Carolina’s next lieutenant governor is about to get a new candidate.

There’s been a whole lot of great news coming out of Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) lately – including new routes and a new low-cost carrier.

It’s going to be rainy and relatively cool during some of the long Memorial Day weekend, but people and families are still going to make it to area pools and they’ll also be grilling outdoors. 

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department is participating in the statewide NC SAFE Week of Action Program.

One day in the future, Guilford County may have a helicopter.   The county may even have a fleet of county helicopters. However, at a Board of Commissioners budget work session on Thursday, May 25, the board reached a consensus that, at this time, the county did not need to purchase a helicopter, which can cost anywhere from $250,000 to a million or more.

On Tuesday night, May 23, Guilford County sheriff’s deputies were called to the scene of the murder of a 73-year-old woman who was allegedly shot by her son.

When it comes to summer, there are few things better than a swimming pool – and anyone who’s been to a local pool on a hot day knows you can never have enough of them. 

When Guilford County Manager Mike Halford presented his $832-million budget proposal to the Guilford County Board of Commissioners on Thursday, May 18, he had something much more important on his mind than the budget. 

North Carolinians won’t have a chance to drink out of the Stanley Cup this year thanks to a four-game to none spanking of the Carolina Hurricanes by the Florida Panthers in the best-of-seven semi-final round of the National Hockey League playoffs which determines who takes home the cherished trophy. 

County taxpayers spent almost $100 million to build a county jail in downtown Greensboro that opened in 2012. 

There have been so many celebrations lately at Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) that airport officials may have discovered they were out of champagne when they began to celebrate the airports latest victory – a new non-stop route from PTIA to Denver that was added by United Airlines.

You probably plan a great deal, and get nervous, every time you ask your boss for a raise – especially in a post pandemic economy where everyone is expecting to see a recession any day and large companies are laying off workers in droves.