Author: John Hammer

From Monday, Sept. 27 through Thursday, Sept. 30 the Greensboro Science Center will be closed to the public, so if you’re planning a visit cross those days off your calendar.

Despite the fact that several city councilmembers didn’t understand exactly what they were doing, the proposed $135 million in bonds were authorized to go to referendum.

The redistricting process for the Greensboro City Council districts has begun with the appointment of a seven member Citizens’ Redistricting Committee by the City Council on Tuesday, Aug. 31.

The Greensboro City Council unanimously approved the Citizens’ Redistricting Committee without knowing who is on that committee. At the Tuesday, Aug. 31 meeting the City Council approved the seven-member redistricting committee knowing the race and gender of the appointees but nothing else about them.  It may be the first time the City Council has ever appointed a committee not knowing the name of a single member.

As reported in the Rhino Times on Monday, Aug. 30, the Greensboro City Council is holding a special “fix up” meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 31 at 5:30 p.m.

The John Locke Foundation has launched a statewide campaign to encourage teachers to leave the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE).

Greensboro Police Chief Brian James released some more details on the arson and assault on a police officer on Friday, Aug. 27 that resulted in one death.

So many mistakes have been made at recent Greensboro City Council meetings that a rare “fix up” meeting is being held Tuesday, Aug. 31 at 5:30 p.m.

The US Census Bureau has not released the complete 2020 Census data, however it has released enough data for the Greensboro City Council to redraw the City Council districts.

Greensboro Police Department Headquarters at 100 Police Plaza in downtown Greensboro became a crime scene Friday afternoon, Aug. 27.

The second time turned out to be the charm in terms of the new Greensboro mental health department.

The Greensboro City Council held its second work session on selecting the organizations that will appoint the members of a citizens’ redistricting committee on Tuesday, August 26.

It appears the first public performance at the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts will be Rhiannon Giddens and Friends on Thursday, Sept. 2 at 8 p.m.

The item on the agenda for the City Council work session “Life Cycle Planning” sounds like a social services issue or maybe something an insurance agent would talk about. As it turns out, the “Life Cycle Planning” coming up at the Thursday, Aug. 26 work session has nothing to do with life except for the lifespan of inanimate objects.

At-large City Councilmember Marikay Abuzuaiter has made it official with an announcement that she will be running for reelection in 2022.

Interim Director of the Financial and Administrative Services Department Marlene Druga was promoted to director of the Financial and Administrative Services Department last week.  Druga is replacing former finance Director Rick Lusk who retired after 35 years with the city in March – not only without any fanfare but without the city even issuing the usual press release.  So the fact that Druga would be named director without any fanfare seems par for the course for the Financial and Administrative Services Department.

Some of the Afghans being evacuated from the Kabul airport will find new homes in North Carolina if state House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) has his way.

The Greensboro City Council has a virtual work session scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 26 and the agenda is growing. The original work session agenda had two items posted and that has now grown to four. The items currently posted are life cycle planning, redistricting committee, behavioral health update and ordinance amending Chapter 12 discrimination.

If you would like to be an at-large member of the Greensboro City Council but don’t want to go through the expense and hassle of running a citywide race, here is your chance.

It appears that Michelle Kennedy, in applying for a job with the city while a member of the Greensboro City Council, may have violated several clauses of the City Council’s new Code of Ethics.

There is now a national initiative to encourage children to walk or bike to school.

The Greensboro City Council approved six different rezoning and original zoning requests at the Tuesday, August 17 meeting.

While she was still a city councilmember, former City Councilmember Michelle Kennedy was deemed by the city to be the most qualified applicant for the position of director of the Department of Neighborhood Development.

The Greensboro City Council is deep into the “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” mode in the case of former City Councilmember Michelle Kennedy being hired as Neighborhood Development Department director by the City of Greensboro.

If you are looking for a new job, evidently it helps to be the boss of the person doing the hiring. With the ink hardly dry on former Greensboro City Councilmember Michelle Kennedy’s resignation from the City Council, the City of Greensboro announced that Kennedy is the new director of the Neighborhood Development Department.

The surprise and completely unexplained resignation from the City Council of Michelle Kennedy has created quite a stir in Greensboro.

At large Greensboro City Councilmember Michelle Kennedy resigned by email at the Tuesday, August 17 virtual City Council meeting.

At-large City Councilmember Michelle Kennedy is expected to resign from the City Council at the Tuesday, August 17 meeting, according to several sources.

The monthly Greensboro City Council business meeting is Tuesday, Aug. 17 at 5:30 p.m.

Tournament Town finally got a tournament, the Wyndham Championship, which was played at Sedgefield Country Club Thursday, Aug. 12 through Sunday, Aug. 15.

Former Greensboro City Councilmember and former Chair of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Mike Barber is not quite ready to commit to running for City Council in 2022. But he’s almost there.

Sustainability was at the top of the agenda for the Thursday, Aug. 12 virtual City Council work session.

The Greensboro City Council spent over an hour at the Thursday, Aug. 12 work session discussion on how it could spend the $59.4 million it will receive in American Rescue Plan funding.

According to the latest crime data from the Greensboro Police Department, crime continues to trend down but traffic fatalities and drug overdoses continue to trend up.

One aspect of working at home, staying at home and not being able to get out and about is often referred to as “The COVID Nineteen” referring to 19 pounds gained during the continuing COVID crisis.

The Greensboro City Council is holding a virtual work session on Thursday, Aug. 12 at 2 p.m.

Greensboro has received funding to nominate another neighborhood for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places and a second grant to expand an existing historic district. The Greensboro Planning Department received a National Parks Service African American Civil Rights grant of $40,000 to move forward with nominating the Benbow Park neighborhood to the National Register of Historic Places.

2021 Wyndham Championship week at Sedgefield Country Club is here with one of the best fields ever. The 2020 Wyndham was played without fans on the course, but in 2021 from Wednesday Aug. 11 to Sunday, Aug.15, 15,000 fans a day will be allowed on the course to watch some of the best golfers in the world do what they do best.

The latest report is that the US Census Bureau is going to release some 2020 Census figures on Thursday, August 12.

In the past year many people have spent more time at home than they have in decades, and one result is that people have also paid more attention to their homes and yards than usual.

The Greensboro Aquatic Center (GAC) held its 10th anniversary celebration on Thursday Aug. 6 beginning at 11 a.m.

The City of Greensboro announced on Friday, Aug. 6 that all meetings of the City Council and various boards and commissions of the city will immediately go back to being held virtually.

District 3 City Councilmember Justin Outling announced his candidacy for Greensboro mayor in December 2020 and has a lot of financial support.

Violent crime in Greensboro is down in 2021 from the spike in 2020.

The Greensboro City Council plans to spend a lot of time looking at police body worn camera videos. That is, if City Attorney Chuck Watts can get permission from the courts for councilmembers to view the videos.

The 2021 Wyndham Championship, Aug. 11-15 at Sedgefield Country Club, is holding its free kickoff celebration a few miles away at Hamburger Square in downtown Greensboro beginning at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 7.

National Night Out is back for 2021 on Tuesday, August 3.

The Greensboro City Council approved several additions and deletions to its code of ethics regarding elections at the Monday, Aug. 2 meeting.