Author: Scott D. Yost

The novel coronavirus has forced major changes in the way just about everyone and every organization operates, and that’s also true of Say Yes Guilford – the four-year-old non-profit that attempts to help students in Guilford County Schools afford college by offering them everything from direct grants to assistance in finding financial aid from other sources.

The deadly coronavirus took a while to get from China to North Carolina, but it’s now crystal clear that any hope the state had of escaping the dramatic effects of the pandemic is gone. At the end of the day on Friday, March 27, the running online counter provided by the NC Department of Health and Human Services reported that the state had 763 confirmed cases and three deaths.

Just about every way in which the coronavirus has affected the world has been negative – however, many homebound Spectrum customers in Guilford County and in other parts of the Spectrum service area across the country are learning that there’s one perk of the crisis.

There are very few things in life that haven’t been affected by the now ubiquitous coronavirus – and one more thing that can be put on that long list is the new school bond referendum that’s been planned for the November ballot.

One week ago, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department put into effect changes that made it harder for people to get concealed carry permits, and, on Wednesday, March 25, the Sheriff’s Department announced that it was halting the service completely for the time being due to concerns regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

On Tuesday evening, March 24, Guilford County released an amended State of Emergency Declaration along with a video message from Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Jeff Phillips.

How can you hold a public hearing without letting the public into the meeting? That was one question Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Jeff Phillips, Commissioner Skip Alston and Guilford County staff dealt with on Tuesday, March 24 when they met to discuss how to handle the county’s upcoming Thursday, April 2 meeting.

The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on most people’s 401(k) plans and it has also been doing some damage to the 2019-2020 Guilford County budget that was approved last summer.

Anyone who’s watched the news in the last two weeks knows that one of the coming big demands during the coronavirus pandemic is a need for more medical facilities – and now a High Point business, better known for creating spaces at trade shows, is taking part in that effort by adding temporary medical spaces to its line of offerings.  

The coronavirus pandemic has changed just about everything regarding life as we knew it, and, on Monday, March 23, the City of High Point announced big changes to the city’s transportation services, ones that will be in effect until further notice.

Guilford County government was schizophrenic this week when it came to holding meetings while the county and the world are in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic.

Knowledge is power and that’s something that Guilford County and the State of North Carolina have very little of right now when it comes to accurate numbers on coronavirus testing.

These are trying times but that still doesn’t give people the right to have 67 pounds of marijuana in their house – which is what the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department deputies found at a house on New Garden Road this week.

The popular saying states that the third time’s a charm, but that’s certainly not the case when it comes to the fact that, on Thursday, March 19, Guilford County announced the discovery of the third case of coronavirus in the county.

Not all that long ago, thieves would steal and transport things like money or jewelry or computers, but a new crime report from the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department shows that the world is now definitely in a new era.

The Guilford County commissioners over the years have shied away from addressing controversial issues unless those issues were thrust upon them and they were cornered into making a decision.

On Tuesday, March 17, the City of High Point joined the City of Greensboro and Guilford County in declaring itself to be in a State of Emergency.  

On Tuesday, March 17, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department announced that the coronavirus pandemic would mean a temporary change in the way county gun permits are issued and also cause a suspension of the department’s fingerprinting services.

In light of the coronavirus – officially “COVID-19” – pandemic, the Social Services Division of the Guilford County Department of Health and Human Services is now accepting food and nutrition applications and renewals electronically.

Just about every event in Guilford County – and across the country for that matter – has been canceled this week. However, one is still set to go on as scheduled. On Thursday, March 19, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners will hold its regular meeting, and, for what’s thought to be the first time in the county’s history, members of the media and other members of the public will not be allowed in.

These days it’s a safe assumption that any event that was planned has been canceled or postponed – and that maxim is holding true even for those events scheduled for over a month from now.  

Everyone knew it was just a matter of time and now that time is here. On Tuesday, March 17, Guilford County officials announced that the first case of the coronavirus was found in the county.

Guilford County has just gotten a new print publication – the Summerfield Scoop.

The reach of the coronavirus is being felt everywhere and Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) is certainly one of those places.

Guilford County government has declared a State of Emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak.

On Friday, March 13, Duke Energy announced the steps the company is taking to make sure that power is not affected during the coronavirus crisis and the company also announced that it is suspending all disconnections for non-payment.

On Friday, March 13, health officials with the State of North Carolina explained the difficulty the state is having in getting virus test materials and they also announced new guidelines for reporting test results to the public.

Guilford County hasn’t had a confirmed case of the coronavirus yet, but when the virus does arrive here, the Guilford County Health Department will be the lead agency in the fight against its spread.

Guilford County’s jails are, by their very nature, always locked up – however, now, with the threat of the novel coronavirus, they’re becoming even more locked up.

Gov. Roy Cooper’s Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Task Force – which was set up earlier this year to combat the threat of the virus that’s now spreading – is holding a meeting on Thursday, March 12 in the State Emergency Operations Center Situation Room in Raleigh in order to discuss what actions can be taken to mitigate the spread of coronavirus, or COVID-19, in North Carolina.

Greensboro Roller Derby is kicking off its 2020 season with a completely free event – its first-ever “Fan Fest.”

The highly respected and important Site Selection Magazine has shown Guilford County some love in the past and now it’s done so again.

The global threat that has had the world on edge for weeks is now arriving in North Carolina.

On Monday, March 9, North Carolina health officials put residents on notice that a person from Indiana had brought a case of the coronavirus to this state.

In recent years, even houses of worship haven’t been exempt from shootings and other violence – and now the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department is going to attempt to make those places safer before anything like that happens here.

Guilford County government is refunding Cone Health nearly $1 million in a settlement that covers five years of the health system’s business personal property taxes. The county has agreed to return $909,516 to Cone as a partial refund of the business personal property taxes that Cone paid from 2014 to 2018.

Guilford County commissioners, parents, social media posters and others have all been weighing in for weeks over the move this year by Guilford County Schools to bus students to the polls to vote. While everyone in the debate thinks it’s a good idea for kids of legal age to vote, there’s also been a great deal of criticism of the way the program was implemented and the way it seemingly came out of nowhere.

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department is seeking the help of the public in finding a teenage girl who’s now been missing for three days.

On Tuesday, March 3, former High Point mayor and City Council member Jim Davis won the Republican primary for the Guilford County Board of Commissioners District 6 seat. In November, he will now face Democratic challenger Jim Upchurch for the right to be the next District 6 commissioner.

Close may count in horseshoes and hand grenades, however, when it comes to finishing second in an election, close doesn’t do a whole lot for you.

Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Jeff Phillips got a super thrill on Super Tuesday. While many Americans were in the voting booths, Phillips was spending the morning in the room with the man at the top of the Republican ticket – President Donald J. Trump.

District 8 Guilford County Board of Commissioners candidate Fahiym Hanna was hoping the second time would be a charm when he ran against incumbent Guilford County Commissioner Skip Alston, but that was not to be. 

In conjunction with National Poison Prevention Week – the third week of March each year – the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department is working with a group called “NC SAFEKIDS” in an effort to raise awareness of the proper handling of medicine and to see that medications and poisons are disposed of properly.

In a new study that looked at the healthiest counties in the United States, Guilford County ranked in the top 10 in the state of North Carolina – albeit, just barely. 

State health officials just got a very valuable tool for fighting the virus officially known as COVID-19, but more commonly called the coronavirus.

The difference between 99.17 percent and 99.48 percent might not seem like a lot, but, when it comes to the collection of property taxes in a county the size of Guilford, it matters a great deal.

Unfortunately, it’s now here.

Guilford County’s two jails have seen three inmate suicides in the last 10 months, however, on Monday, March 2, the Sheriff’s Department stated that it has measures and procedures in place meant to prevent inmates from taking their lives while incarcerated.

If you’ve got some extra room in your house, why not let a High Point Rockers baseball player move in with you?

United Way of Greater Greensboro has been helping area residents for nearly a century, and now the non-profit is calling on those residents to give them some feedback to help them help the community more effectively.