Author: Scott Yost

It was quite a year in Guilford County government and it seemed fitting at the end of the year to take a look back in time at the year that was…

The Board Starts The Year With A Retreat – And A Tax Bombshell. Guilford County’s commissioners opened 2025 with their annual retreat at NC A&T – an event billed as a chance to set priorities, but this year it was really more useful as an early warning system: County officials made it clear that property values in Guilford County were lagging far behind actual market prices, and that the 2026 revaluation could result in sharp increases for many property owners. On average, property owners were predicted to see a 48 percent increase in their property values and, for homeowners specifically, higher than that….

Property taxes are already a very sore subject in Guilford County; however next year’s countywide revaluation – with average housing values expected to increase right at 50 percent of 2022 values – threatens to turn simmering frustration into full-blown anger unless local governments move aggressively to offset higher values with lower tax rates…

When the Guilford County commissioners voted on the fiscal 2025-2026 budget on Wednesday, July 18, some items had to be voted on separately because, while Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Skip Alston could vote on the overall budget, he could not legally vote on one budget measure on which he had a conflict of interest… 

On Wednesday, Feb. 26, Greensboro’s International Civil Rights Center and Museum got a very special guest taking a tour of the facility – brand new North Carolina Governor Josh Stein.

Stein was a guest of Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston, a co-founder of the museum, on the tour of the famous site in downtown Greensboro where four now legendary black NC A&T students sat down at the all-white lunch counter at F.W. Woolworth’s and refused to leave – thus setting off a chain reaction of protest sit-ins across the South.

The State of North Carolina and local mental health officials have been implementing a host of new programs meant to help in the widespread battle against mental illness – in part as a result of an attempt to reduce homelessness, decrease violent events such as mass shootings and address other societal ills that may result from mental illness.

Just before Christmas this year, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced a new $20-million transportation program meant to help move patients without the involvement of law enforcement….

Irving Park’s most famous Republican fundraiser – Postmaster General Louis DeJoy – came under intense criticism this week from Republican Congressman Rick McCormick from Georgia in a Tuesday, Dec. 10 heated exchange during a congressional oversight hearing – where the lawmaker harshly and directly blamed DeJoy’s leadership for the worsening performance of the US Postal Service.

The confrontation, which aired on C-SPAN, centered around the ongoing delays in mail delivery that have plagued the Postal Service under DeJoy’s tenure…

After Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office asked people to help fill a large truck in the parking lot of the Sheriff’s Office’s administrative headquarters in downtown Greensboro with donations of needed supplies. 

Now, the Sheriff’s Office is holding another drive, one with a much less somber purpose.

On Monday, Nov. 18, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office announced the renewal of its annual “Fill the Bus” toy drive, “where we come together to bring joy to children in need this holiday season.”…

The results of the 2024 General Election won’t be known until at least three weeks from now; however, the voting process in most parts of the country – including North Carolina and Guilford County – is already underway. 

So, there’s already some hard data regarding the election, and one of those interesting points of information is which party is sending in the most ballots by mail – the earliest way there is to vote.

The Rhino Times requested details regarding the status of the absentee ballots that have been coming into the Guilford County Board of Elections office, and, currently, as of Tuesday, Oct. 15, the office has accepted a total of 2,834 ballots by mail for the November 5 General Election, and, so far, 1,233 of those votes have been from Democratic voters while 724 ballots have been sent in by people registered as Republicans….

First Horizon Corporation, in what city officials are calling a “landmark partnership agreement” with the City of Greensboro and Oak View Group – the managers and operators of the Greensboro Coliseum Complex – will become the first naming rights partner of the 65-year-old coliseum complex, and the facility that’s always been known as the Greensboro Coliseum will now be “First Horizon Coliseum.”

Terms of the multi-year agreement – which goes into effect immediately – weren’t released.

The new partnership with First Horizon Bank was secured by Oak View Global Partnerships, which is Oak View Group’s sponsorship and naming rights division that connects brands with live entertainment properties….

It’s not beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but it is beginning to look a lot like the Greensboro City Council is about to pick a new city manager. 

Earlier in the year, City Council members said the decision would likely be made in late summer; and, on Friday, August 30, the Greensboro City Council called a special meeting for Friday, Sept. 6 at 2 p.m. in the Katie Dorsett Council Chamber of the Melvin Municipal Office Building at 300 W. Washington St. to discuss who should get the job….

College and university classes may dwindle to a trickle over the summer; however, that’s certainly not the case when it comes to construction at High Point University, where the projects are going gangbusters right now…

The City of Greensboro and Guilford County have seen a great deal of economic development in the last five years but it turns out that this area isn’t the only fortunate…

The City of Greensboro is hosting its second annual “Violence Awareness Day” on Friday, June 7. The event is being held in conjunction with National Gun Violence Awareness Day…

Juneteenth has only been an official federal holiday for a few years, but that doesn’t mean that the City of High Point and the High Point Library don’t have big plans to honor the day.  And since the two events will take place in just a couple of weeks, you won’t even have to wait until Wednesday, June 19th to celebrate…

Say what you will about the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, but they don’t know how to take no for an answer. 
At least not when it comes to sales tax increases…