Author: Scott D. Yost

If you come across any stolen radioactive tools lying around, please let state officials know about your find. The North Carolina Radiation Protection Section has received a report of a measuring tool with a radioactive component being stolen in Durham.

Low-hanging fruit.  That’s what the first half of the COVID-19 vaccination effort has been for state health officials. North Carolina just passed the halfway mark – with over 50 percent of its adult population at least partially vaccinated.  However, so far, it’s been a breeze getting the public into chairs and getting shots into arms.

The Guilford County Planning and Development Department is partnering with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the City of Greensboro Neighborhood Development Department, Housing Consultants Group and local lenders to offer the Homebuyer Down Payment Assistance program – an initiative that’s meant to increase home ownership in Guilford County.

On Monday, May 3 and Tuesday, May 4, economic development officials in High Point and Guilford County stated publicly that there would be a major announcement coming on Wednesday, May 5. 

The City of High Point just named a brand new city manager earlier this week, and, on Wednesday, May 5, it announced a new Human Relations manager.  City employee Rase McCray was offered and has accepted the position.

Beginning Saturday, May 15, both the north and south long-term parking lots at Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) will re-open. 

Soon, those in High Point who appreciate a hearty glass of beer will have a new place to throw a few back. Paddled South Brewing Co. in downtown will offer a good variety of beers to choose from for patrons celebrating the post-pandemic times. The brewery, which is at 602 North Main Street in High Point, is holding its grand opening on Thursday, May 27. 

On Monday, May 3, NC Governor Roy Cooper and state health officials turned their gaze  toward another ailment – hepatitis.

Movie lovers in Greensboro who’ve been distressed by the closure of theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic will have a new movie theater option starting on Friday, May 7. 

Strangely, Guilford County sent out a notice on Monday, May 3, that there may be a quorum of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners at a meeting on Wednesday, May 5. 

When the day began in High Point on Monday, May 3, there was a buzz around the city that the High Point City Council would have a new city manager chosen by the end of the day – and that buzz turned out to be right on the money. 

North Carolina has reached another milestone in the massive effort to get people in the state vaccinated for COVID-19.  As of the last day of April, right at 50 percent of the people eligible for vaccination had been at least partially vaccinated.

Former Guilford County Manager Marty Lawing, who resigned from that top county government seat in December, has found a new job in a very nice place.   Lawing has been selected as the new city manager of Fort Myers, Florida.

Starting on Saturday, May 1 the NC Division of Aging and Adult Services is teaming up with the NC Area Agencies on Aging and others to distribute fans to eligible recipients through “Operation Fan Heat Relief.” 

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department is looking for a few good kids. Actually, it’s looking for more than a few.  The department is now taking applications for the summer 2021 Sheriff’s Youth Academy meant for “youth curious about a career in law enforcement.”

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services sent out notice this month to Medicaid beneficiaries that open enrollment for NC Medicaid Managed Care will end on Friday, May 14.  

]When Guilford County Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Skip Alston met virtually with the mayors and other leaders of the county’s cities and towns earlier this month, that meeting was closed to the public and media. 

The NC Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) announced on Thursday, April 29 that the state is now expanding eligibility for food assistance benefits to college students in North Carolina.

Some people might be wary about getting the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after the state of North Carolina pulled it out of circulation, put it back in, pulled it back out again, and then put it back into the vaccination lineup again.  However, those who do want it – usually because it’s the only approved one-shot vaccine – now have that choice again at Greensboro’s “Mass Vax” site at Four Seasons Town Center.

Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA), like airports around the country and the world, have had a rough go of it in the COVID-19 pandemic. However, things are slowly but surely getting back to normal and one sign of that is, this week, PTIA happily announced that Delta Air Lines plans to resume nonstop flights between PTIA and LaGuardia, beginning on Saturday, June 5.

Piedmont Triad International Airport has had a tough year due to COVID-19, but the show must go on and, for airports, that means keeping the snow off the runways and out of the parking lots.  That’s the main reason the seven-member Piedmont Triad Airport Authority voted to shell out $229,330 – and 66 cents – to purchase a new dump truck with a snowplow attachment to service the airport each winter.

Paul Mengert has been re-elected by the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority to chair that seven-member board for a second year in a row. 

If you lost your job during the pandemic and you’re looking for a new one – well, you might want to get in touch with the High Point Rockers because the team is looking for employees for the upcoming baseball season.

Guilford County Health Director Iulia Vann wants to see a school nurse in every county-run school in Guilford County.

A children’s wear manufacturer plans to open a new facility in Guilford County that will result in a $50-million capital investment and 116 new jobs. The Guilford County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the matter at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 6, in the commissioners’ meeting room on the second floor of the Old Guilford County Court House at 301 W. Market St. in downtown Greensboro.

New state legislation meant to ensure the health of pregnant women and their unborn children while incarcerated has been introduced in Raleigh, with what backers are calling strong support of “a broad, bipartisan coalition.”

Guilford County Manager Mike Halford is pretty new to that job – he just started at the first of the year – but, already, Halford has made the rounds to many towns, cities and nooks and crannies in Guilford County like no other county manager this century.

In the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurants have been some of the hardest-hit businesses. To help bring that industry back to life, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan pandemic relief legislation established a $29 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund that’s now being handled by the US Small Business Administration (SBA).

Guilford County has been converting some tennis courts to pickleball courts to meet demand, but right now the county can’t keep up with the popularity of the sport. “There is a pickleball craze if you haven’t heard,” said Guilford County Commissioner Mary Beth Murphy, who also sits on the county’s Parks and Recreation Commission.   

Guilford County Emergency Management Director Don Campbell said that the county is now engaging in a full-on advertising blitz to encourage area adults to get their shots of COVID-19 vaccines.

At a Guilford County Board of Commissioners retreat last month, new Guilford County Manager Mike Halford spoke about his desire for the county to have another assistant county manager position – in addition to the one the county has had for years. This week, Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston said the new position will be included in the county’s fiscal 2021-2022 budget that’s scheduled to be adopted by the board in June and go into effect on July 1.

Vaccine providers across North Carolina and the country are resuming the use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine after a safety review by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the UD Food and Drug Administration found the product to be safe enough to use. 

Progress on the New Guilford County Behavioral Health Center must be going well because the county now has an official ribbon-cutting date – June 12. 

Guilford County Commissioner Mary Beth Murphy, who now also serves on the Guilford County Parks and Recreation Commission, made an announcement at a recent Board of Commissioners meeting that will please a lot of kids and adults in the area – the county’s pools will be open this summer.

Time flies and Thursday, July 1 will be here before you know it, which is why the Guilford County Board of Commissioners has called a special work session for Monday, April 26 to engage in the process of banging out a new fiscal budget that will go into July 1. 

Guilford County Commissioner Carlvena Foster, who represents the High Point area, has been selected as the new president of the Women of NACo (the National Association of Counties).  

Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston and the Democratic majority of the board have big plans for the county that have to be paid for somehow.

A brazen boat trailer theft in broad daylight in Irving Park was thwarted on Thursday, April 22 by an alert Rhino Times writer who confronted the would-be thief.  The incident occurred at about 7:30 p.m. on the 600 block of West Cornwallis Drive in Greensboro.

The number of requests for handgun purchase permits and concealed carry permits has been going up in Guilford County, and, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, so has the amount of time it takes to get one.

Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers and his staff have been waiting over two years for a new Sheriff’s Department headquarters and this week both Rogers and Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston said it’s frustrating the project is taking so long.  

Guilford County and the State of North Carolina have been bending over backward to make sure that the coronavirus vaccination distribution, and all other responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, are fair and equitable across all populations. 

Former Guilford County Deputy Manager Clarence Grier has landed on his feet after being shown the door by Guilford County government earlier this year.  Grier has been named the deputy city manager of Roanoke, Virginia.

As just about every citizen of Guilford County is aware, Board of Commissioners meetings can sometimes get heated.  That, however, didn’t happen at the board’s Thursday, April 15 meeting – perhaps because there were several therapy dogs in attendance to calm everyone down and make everyone feel good that night.

Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise stop to the International Civil Rights Center and Museum in downtown Greensboro on her visit to Greensboro on Monday, April 19.

On Thursday morning, April 15, in the auditorium at the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department’s District 2 office in McLeansville, the department honored its outstanding sworn and civilian employees for special contributions in the line of duty.

On Friday, April 16, the NC Department of Health and Human Services released its regular COVID-19 update and, according to the stats in that report, almost exactly one out of three adults in the state are now fully vaccinated.   That number is 33.3 percent to be exact – and, nearly half, 45.8 percent, of the adults in North Carolina had been at least partially vaccinated. 

Over the past few weeks, Guilford County Manager Mike Halford has been meeting and talking with the leaders of the cities and towns in Guilford County – as well as with school system officials and others in local leadership positions.

On Monday, April 19, Guilford County plans to put out a request for proposals to assess the needs and the cost of greatly expanding broadband internet in areas of the county where broadband is currently not available. 

That is just part of a long classified ad that fascinated many readers who came across it in the High Point Enterprise earlier this week – and that left them wondering what the heck was going on.  Those who waded through the complex text likely noticed a word or two they knew – such as “April” or “Congo” – however, otherwise, they had no idea what the message said.