Author: John Hammer

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order to offer more protection for North Carolinians in danger of being evicted.

Publix announced on Tuesday, Oct. 27 that it was expanding its distribution center, currently under construction in Greensboro, with a dry grocery warehouse.

Vice President Mike Pence made a campaign stop at the Piedmont Triad International Airport on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Mondays are special days at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS). On Mondays, the NCDHHS releases the number of people in North Carolina who have recovered from confirmed cases of COVID-19.

The appointment of the country’s newest Supreme Court justice, Amy Coney Barrett, was confirmed by the US Senate on a 52-48 vote shortly before 8 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 26.

The Made 4 the Market artisan craft and pottery markets were rescheduled due to rain and will now be held Sunday, Nov. 1 and Sunday Nov. 15 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. outside the Greensboro Farmers Curb Market at 501 Yanceyville St.

There are strange things done at virtual City Council meetings and this would be one of them. Not because the City Council unanimously passed the $50 million 10 year plan to improve access to and the conditions of affordable housing in the city, because that is one of the stated priorities of the City Council, but because the “Housing GSO Creating Opportunities to Build a Better Community” plan was passed on the consent agenda.

In the beginning there wasn’t much data since COVID-19 was caused by a new virus, but now there is a wealth of data, some of which is being ignored – as in the case of cleaning and disinfecting everything that anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 may have touched.

Greensboro has money available and is still accepting applications for rent and mortgage assistance. To qualify for rent or mortgage assistance your household income must be no more than 80 percent of the area median income. Your home has to be in the Greensboro city limits and you must be at least 18 years old. You also have to have been current on your rent or mortgage through February and missed at least one payment since April 1. Previously you had to have missed one payment between April 1 and June 30, but that has been extended.

How does Greensboro compare to other cities in the state as far as economic development goes? This was a question asked by City Councilmember Justin Outling during the City Council work session on economic development on Tuesday, Oct. 20.

City Manager David Parrish made an obtuse but meaningful statement at the Greensboro City Council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 20.

The battle on how to count absentee ballots in North Carolina for the Nov. 3 election isn’t over, yet.

The City Council met for almost eight hours on Tuesday, Oct. 21, so there were some discussions that didn’t make a whole lot of sense. However, the award for the dumbest question of the night has to be given to Councilmember Sharon Hightower, who admitted at the time it was a dumb question.

With any luck the election will be decided by the time loose leaf collection begins in Greensboro on Nov. 9.

The Greensboro City Council learned more about economic development at the work session on Tuesday, Oct. 20.

The Greensboro City Council appeared to establish a new policy at the virtual meeting on Tuesday, Oct 20 – when faced with a tough decision – punt.

The highly controversial rezoning request by the Koury Corporation for property on Cone Boulevard was approved by the Greensboro Zoning Commission on Monday, Oct. 19. The request to rezone the 23.3 acres from Residential Single-Family to Conditional District Residential Multi-Family-26 (CD-RM-26) passed by a 6-to-3 vote and will almost certainly be appealed to the City Council where it will be heard at the Tuesday, Nov. 17 meeting.

One item that should be on the City Council agenda for the Tuesday, Oct. 20 meeting isn’t.

Tuesday, Oct. 20 is going to be another long day for the Greensboro City Council with a virtual work session at 3 p.m. and a virtual City Council meeting beginning at 5:30 p.m.

The Greensboro City Council on Oct. 15 officially announced that all of its meetings for the remainder of the year will be virtual. Mayor Nancy Vaughan made the announcement at the Tuesday, Oct. 6 City Council meeting, but it was more of an aside than an official announcement.

The Greensboro City Council agenda for the Tuesday, Oct. 20 meeting has an item that was the source of much controversy earlier this year.

The Guilford County school system has nixed plans to transport students to the polls to vote in the 2020 general election – which will determine a variety of heated races at the local, state and federal level.

Hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots have been cast by North Carolina voters, early voting has started across the state and with Election Day a little more than two weeks away, nobody knows what the rules are for absentee ballots.

Sometimes plans can be deceiving and that is the case with the Greensboro Planning Department “Staff Report” for the rezoning request by the Koury Corporation for 23.3 acres on West Cone Boulevard. The proposal by Koury is to build up to 531 apartments on the site that is currently zoned single-family residential. The rezoning request is on the agenda for the Monday, Oct. 19 meeting of the Greensboro Zoning Commission.

The controversial rezoning case of 23 acres along West Cone Boulevard is scheduled to come before the Greensboro Zoning Commission on Monday, Oct. 19.

The Greensboro Coliseum will be the site of the first and second rounds of the 2023 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Men’s Basketball Championships. This will mark the 14th time the Greensboro Coliseum has hosted NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament for a total of 63 games.

The Greensboro City Council is currently in the process of learning more about the Greensboro Police Department and how it operates.

Absentee ballots will be required to be signed by a witness following a ruling by North Carolina Middle District Federal District Court Judge William Osteen on Wednesday, Oct. 14.

It was officially announced that UPS would be expanding its existing Greensboro hub at 3100 Flagstone St. with a $54 million investment. The announcement was made on Tuesday, Oct. 13 before state and local officials at the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering in Greensboro.

Even without knowing that the Guilford County Board of Elections had a Democratic majority, you could surmise that from the placement of the early voting sites.

Early voting begins in Guilford County on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 8 a.m. at 25 locations throughout the county. Some years the times for early voting are complicated, but not in 2020. Between Thursday, Oct. 15 and Saturday Oct. 31 all early voting locations are open at 8 a.m. seven days a week. Monday through Friday the early voting locations close at 7:30 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays the early voting locations close at 5 p.m. except for Saturday, Oct. 31, when all early voting locations close at 3 p.m.

North Carolina has had over 200,000 people recover from COVID-19.

Amazon has officially announced that it plans to open a new delivery station in Whitsett in 2021.

The City of Greensboro has begun the process to redraw the “Airport Overlay District” around the Piedmont Triad International Airport.

A front page article in the Sunday, Oct. 11 News & Record is completely misleading.

Mayor Nancy Vaughan announced this week that the Greensboro City Council would meet virtually for at least the rest of 2020.

The 2021 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division l Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships will be held at the GAC. The Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships were previously scheduled to be held at the GAC from Wednesday, March 17 to Saturday, March 20. But now the Men’s Division l NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships have been added to the calendar for Wednesday, March 24 to Saturday, March, 27.

the Greensboro Water Resources Department is asking people on Wednesday, Oct. 21 to “Imagine a Day Without Water.”

The NC State Board of Elections has a 3-to-2 Democratic majority, and based on advice from the office of Attorney General Josh Stein, the board entered into a consent agreement to settle a lawsuit from a Democratic group. The settlement was chosen over having the court decide the issues involving requiring a witness signature on the ballot and when an absentee ballot could arrive at the elections office and still be counted.

The Greensboro City Council at a work session on Tuesday, Oct. 6 revisited the strategic goals it set at the annual City Council retreat in February.

Public speakers were allowed at the monthly public forum meeting of the Greensboro City Council on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

The City Council held its long awaited work session on economic development Tuesday, Oct. 6.

The Greensboro City Council voted to once again apologize for the events of Nov. 3, 1979, where five members of the Communist Workers Party were shot and killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan and American Nazi Party. The vote took place at a special virtual meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020, and was the third City Council meeting of the day.

Everything is different in 2020, including the Rhino Times endorsements. No candidate forums, few campaign events, it’s a very different political landscape – more like a moonscape. One candidate said, “Almost everything I do is on social media and the internet.”

The Bellemeade-Eugene Streetscaping plan takes streetscaping in Greensboro to a whole new level and the city wants your input. The project is part of the Downtown Greensboro Streetscape Master Plan, which is being funded with the $25 million community and economic development bond approved by the voters in 2016.

The Greensboro City Council has three official virtual meetings on Tuesday, Oct. 6. The first meeting is a work session at 3 p.m. to discuss the long-term strategic goals set by the council in February and economic development. The second virtual meeting at 5:30 p.m. is the monthly City Council public forum or town hall meeting.

It’s not often that press releases from the City of Greensboro fall into the LOL category, but this one did. The city issues a press release on Friday, Oct. 2 titled “City Parking Enforcement Resumes Normal Operations October 19.” The city never issued press release that parking enforcement was not operating normally. In fact, in July the city parking enforcement division refused to confirm that it wasn’t writing parking tickets, even though it had not been writing tickets since March.

Phase 3 of North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s plan to keep the state shut down purportedly offers some relief to entertainment venues that have been closed since March. Phase 3 goes into effect Friday, Oct. 2 at 5 p.m., and what does that mean for Greensboro’s largest entertainment venue, the Greensboro Coliseum Complex?

The Greensboro City Council is holding a virtual work session at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6 to discuss the long-term strategic goals it set in February.

The Greensboro City Council at the Tuesday, Oct. 6 meeting plans to redefine electric scooters and electric bikes as “micromobility vehicles.” The old definition of an “electric standup scooter” defined it as having two wheels, while the new definition allows it to have no more than three wheels and a top speed of no more than 20 miles per hour.