Author: John Hammer

Downtown Greensboro Inc., the City of Greensboro and Guilford County are working with a consulting firm to develop a strategic action plan for downtown Greensboro for 2030 and are requesting input.

The new congressional district maps passed the state House on a party line vote with every Democrat voting no, even though the new maps would likely give the Democrats two additional seats in the US Congress.

The Greensboro Department of Transportation staff asked the TAC to approve taking $587,000 set aside to buy new SCAT buses and use those funds to repair the roof at The Doug Galyon Depot, the multi-modal transportation center on Washington Street.

The winter portion of Piedmont Winterfest arrived a few days early, but no one can argue that it isn’t ice skating weather.

The plan to implement a grade separation at the Franklin Boulevard and Norfolk Southern Railroad crossing has been in the planning stages for a while.

Jose Charles has been arrested again. Charles was arrested on Friday, Nov. 8 and charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and attempted robbery for an incident that occurred on Jan. 11, 2019.

The North Carolina lieutenant governor’s race is for North Carolinians what the presidential race is for Democrats.

Greensboro now has the only regulation sized petanque courts in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Greensboro Police Lt. Stacy Morton has been put on “administrative leave with pay pending an internal investigation” according to Police Public Information Officer Ronald Glenn.

Some people got Monday, Nov. 11, Veterans Day, off from work, and from an unofficial tally a good percentage of those folks used the day to get ready for the first round of loose leaf collection, which starts Tuesday, Nov. 12.

The Fresh Market is not only likely getting help from the Guilford County taxpayers, but also from the Greensboro taxpayers who are Guilford County taxpayers as well.

The ribbon cutting for the section of the urban loop, aka I-840 between Battleground Avenue and Lawndale Drive, was held Thursday, Nov. 7.

The purchase of the Norfolk Southern Railway Atlantic & Yadkin Railroad corridor announced Friday, Nov. 8 by the City of Greensboro does much more than provide the missing piece of the Downtown Greenway, it also will allow the Atlantic & Yadkin Greenway (A&Y) to be connected to the Downtown Greenway.

NC Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday, Nov. 8 vetoed the pay raise for teachers the Republican-led North Carolina legislature passed just before it adjourned on Thursday, Oct. 31.

A huge stumbling block preventing the completion of the Downtown Greenway has been cleared and construction on the final stage, the western leg, can begin.

Guilford County’s 2,300 or so employees are getting a health insurance plan for 2020 that might not be as nice as the one they’ve had in the past – but it’s still pretty attractive considering what’s been happening to plans in the private sector in recent years.

It’s not only official, it’s been officially celebrated – dogs are allowed in taprooms that don’t prepare food.

Made 4 the Holidays Arts, Crafts and Pottery Shows are the area’s largest local juried holiday shows and are hosted by the Greensboro Farmers Market at 501 Yanceyville St. The first is Sunday, Nov. 10 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the second will be held on Sunday, Dec. 8.

The Veterans Parade sponsored by the Disabled American Veterans and the City of Greensboro will be held Saturday, Nov. 9 at noon.

The Greensboro Police Department has longer response times than other comparable cities in North Carolina, according to a study by the North Carolina School of Government.

Saturday, Nov. 2 at Country Park over a thousand people walked in the JDRF One Walk to raise money to find a cure for diabetes.

The North Carolina Legislature adjourned on Oct. 31 without overriding Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the state budget, which means the state has no 2019-2021 budget.

SCAT riders are always allowed to speak first at Greensboro City Council town hall meetings. The reason is so they can ride SCAT, Greensboro’s paratransit service home.

The City of Greensboro hasn’t tried having trucks with loudspeakers on top blasting out the message: “Don’t put glass in your brown recycling bin.” The city also hasn’t tried skywriting, but it may in the future because the city continues working to get the message out that glass does not belong in the brown recycling bins.

After years of Greensboro City Council public forums being dominated by the same small group of people saying the same things, finally there is a new topic for public discussion.

The Monday, Nov. 4 meeting of the Greensboro City Council at the Marylene Griffin Recreation Center audibly demonstrated one of the problems with having the meetings offsite rather than at city hall.

If the new rules for speakers at the City Council town hall meetings were supposed to take the yell out of the yell-fest held once a month by the Greensboro City Council, then the rules failed.

The October city services bill, which many people still call the “water bill,” has a surprise, and it’s not a water rate hike but a good surprise.

The Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department has won a passel of awards and the Greensboro City Council never misses a chance to brag about the successes of the department.

Next week is the November Greensboro City Council town hall meeting where the council listens to what speakers have to say and then adjourns.

On Sunday, Nov. 3 at 2 a.m., Americans stop saving daylight.

North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell on Thursday, Oct. 31, called for Gov. Roy Cooper to replace the NC Secretary of Transportation James Trogdon for what Folwell says is the irresponsible way the NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) spent money this year.

The state legislative sessions in odd years are called “long sessions” because it is the session where, in normal years, a two-year budget is passed and bills on just about anything can be introduced.

Steve Showfety, the president of Koury Corp. and the long-term chairman of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority, passed away on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at the age of 72 after a battle with brain cancer.

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros spoke about issues facing cities today before a crowd of about 140 at the Cadillac Service Garage on East Market Street on Wednesday, Oct. 30.

The town hall meeting of the Greensboro City Council on Monday, Nov. 4 will be the first where the speakers have been informed about Mayor Nancy Vaughan’s new rules governing speaking prior to the meeting.

With the focus this week on all things scary and ghoulish, it is entirely in keeping with the season for Greensboro College to announce it will have a Walking Dead speaker.

November Is National Diabetes Awareness Month and JDRF’s Piedmont Triad Chapter will be celebrating it with events all through the month.

Drivers seem to like to complain about pot holes almost as much as they like to complain about other drivers who don’t use their turn signals.

The image most people have of the police comes from watching movies and television shows. But Hollywood is about entertainment, not accuracy, which means what you see on the screen is not necessarily the most accurate depiction of the day-to-day lives of police officers.

Mayor Nancy Vaughan said that the reason Greensboro had half the police cars of cities smaller than Greensboro was that other cities allow police officers to take their cars home and Greensboro doesn’t.

Loose leaf collection is always a controversial topic this time of year.  Some city councilmembers are fervently against it, but so far not a majority.

If it were not for the crazy single family residential front set back ordinance, the Board of Adjustment (BOA) might have to disband for lack of work.

At the October meeting of the Greensboro City Council, where the council unanimously agreed to spend $500,000 to hire City Councilmember Yvonne Johnson’s nonprofit to run a Cure Violence program, the question was asked: How does the Greensboro Police Department compare with other police departments in terms of personnel and equipment?

Greensboro will hold two community meetings in November about the US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED for Cities and Communities Program.

The North Carolina state budget has been one vote away from passing since the House voted to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto in September, and the state Senate may vote on the budget override on Monday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. according to President Pro Tem of the state Senate Phil Berger.

There’s nothing like a big party to welcome the new kid on the block.

Sixth District Congressman Mark Walker will be in Greensboro on Monday, not to shake hands, kiss babies, raise money or other political activities, but to hold a congressional committee hearing.

It’s a pretty safe bet that North Carolina won’t have a budget by the end of the month when the legislature has announced it will adjourn.

The North Carolina Folk Festival announced another record-breaking year. The estimate is that 156,000 people attended the NC Folk Festival in 2019.