Author: Scott D. Yost

Archer Western construction company is now putting the finishing touches on Piedmont Triad International Airport’s165-foot-tall air traffic control tower along with a roughly 16,000-square-foot base building – a one-story Terminal Radar Approach Control (aka TRACON) building – that will house administration offices and air traffic controllers.

After a shooting near the corner of Elmwood Drive and West Cornwallis on Saturday, Feb. 13, residents in that Irving Park neighborhood are coming together to attempt to help find the culprit and get the Greensboro City Council to take action to address shootings in the city.

On Monday, Feb. 22, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners voted 7 to 2 to approve a $7 million incentives package for High Point that completely resets the county’s long established policies and practices regarding incentives.

For years, nationally, there’s been an “un-lawning” movement going on – turning city lawns into dense, food-producing patches of land. Now the Guilford County nonprofit Guilford Urban Farming Initiative and St. Philip African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Greensboro are working together to create a small farm that will be known as the St. Philip Garden of Peace and Community Farm.

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners is set to vote on Monday, Feb. 22 to give High Point $7 million to help the city conduct its downtown revitalization efforts, but some county commissioners still have a lot of questions about the deal.

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners is planning a two-day trip to a local country club – but the commissioners aren’t going there to hit the links and eat pheasant under glass and steak tartare.  The retreat will be held on Thursday, March 4 and Friday, March 5 at Forest Oaks Country Club at 4600 Forest Oaks Dr.  The board has a tremendous number of issues to deliberate on this year.  The county is currently building a new animal shelter and new behavioral health center and is planning the construction of a new headquarters for the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department – and that’s just three of the front-burner items the board has on its plate.

The COIVID-19 pandemic has ruined a lot of birthday parties for a lot of people over the past year, and it even ruined a big party for the Old Guilford County Court House in Downtown Greensboro.  That building turned 100 years old in the spring of 2020, and, before the pandemic hit, Guilford County officials were planning to throw a large coming-out party for the building that has been radically renovated, cleaned and beautified over the past five years.

Former Republican Guilford County Commissioner Alan Branson may have lost his seat in the November election last year, but that didn’t stop Branson from participating in the commissioners’ Thursday, Feb.18 meeting.  

Guilford County government has terminated the countywide State of Emergency that went into effect on Wednesday, Feb.17, as an ominous ice storm approached.

Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston has had plenty of recognition in local political circles. And he’s about to get more recognition – this time from Black Business Ink magazine, which is featuring Alston in this month’s issue and putting him on the cover.

The winter storm that’s been wreaking havoc as it makes its way across the country has put Guilford County into a State of Emergency and caused the postponement of vaccinations scheduled for this week. The county issued the declaration of a State of Emergency on Wednesday, Feb. 17 as the storm approached. 

On Wednesday night, Feb. 17, a new ice storm was making its way across the state and Duke Energy officials were preparing for the worst.   The company warned that hazardous winter precipitation and high winds from the approaching winter storm could cause up to 1 million power outages in the state and also warned that customers should be prepared because some of those outages could last for several days.

Truist Point stadium in High Point will be the main venue for the Nike Triad Shootout – a youth soccer tournament that begins play on Friday, Feb. 19 at soccer fields across the Triad.

There’s a day or week for everything – the day for love just passed, and Ballroom Dancing Week is coming in September – but dog lovers across the country want everyone to know that an especially important day is coming up, Monday, Feb. 22 is National Walking Your Dog Day.

Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston and NC Governor Roy Cooper may not officially be pen pals. But Alston has sent the governor a second letter in 2021 – this one requesting 15,000 COVID-19 vaccination doses to be given to the county’s school teachers and other education staff.

A drive-by shooting at the corner of Elmwood Drive and West Cornwallis Drive has spread alarm in a part of Greensboro that, until now, has largely been spared this type of crime. The Greensboro Police Department is giving out very little information about the incident in the Irving Park neighborhood at this time, but the story of what happened has been spreading like wildfire among residents ever since around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13, when the shooting took place.

On Thursday, Feb.18, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners will meet to discuss the county’s business, but the focus will largely be on High Point. The New Business portion of the commissioners agenda includes two public hearings for the county’s second-largest city.  The board will take input from citizens on a proposed $7-million incentive from the county to High Point for its downtown revitalization project, as well as hold a hearing regarding a $100,000 county grant for the High Point Equity Project – a non-profit meant to help minority and women owned  businesses in the city succeed.

When it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations, both Guilford County and the State of North Carolina are making every effort to see that minority and marginalized populations don’t get left out of the picture. 

Once again in Guilford County there are not enough vaccines to go around, but those seeking vaccinations this week can attempt to register starting at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, February 16.

However, on Thursday, Feb. 11, state health officials announced some bad news. The much-publicized, fast-spreading South African strain of COVID-19 was identified in North Carolina for the first time.

On Wednesday, Feb. 10, there was another indication that the baseball season is drawing near and that it really will happen.  The Rockers announced their first player signing for the 2021 season – Outfielder Quincy Latimore, who played for the Rockers during their first and only season in 2019.

 On Monday, Feb. 1, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an order that requires all travelers on public transportation systems in the US to wear a mask to mitigate the risk of COVID-19.

First, out of the clear blue sky, the commissioners showed interest in moving forward on a long-dead incentives plan potentially worth $7 million to aid High Point with its downtown development. And now, this week, the board scheduled a public hearing to consider giving $100,000 for a new non-profit business incubator initiative called High Point Equity Project.

Several years ago, City of High Point leaders approached the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, asking for financial help in developing the downtown area around what’s now the ballpark where the High Point Rockers play baseball.  At that time, the Guilford County commissioners didn’t approve a dime for the project – much less the $11 million-plus spread out over a decade that High Point wanted. 

However, the state of North Carolina has just released a statistic reminding everyone of the damage that’s already been done by the disease.  In a Tuesday, Feb.9 press release, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) announced that the number of virus-related deaths in the state had exceeded 10,000.

On Saturday, Feb. 6, the state released statistics that showed what state officials called a “dramatic” drop in the spread of flu – as well as other respiratory illnesses – due to the restrictions being enforced to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Guilford County is engaged in a joint lawsuit against a multitude of companies that manufactured, promoted and distributed opioids in a way that allegedly contributed to the national opioid addiction crisis.  However, Guilford County won’t be on the receiving end of a check from the opioid lawsuit settlement just announced by NC Attorney General Josh Stein.

High Point is known as the “Furniture Capital of the World,” but it has now taken a step toward being known as a center of hot sauce distribution. Hot Shots Distributing, Inc.– a Charlotte-based company that bills itself as the world’s largest distributor of hot sauces – has announced that it will locate a distribution and manufacturing operation at 827 W. Green Dr. in High Point.

There have been a host of COVID-19 relief programs from the Guilford County Board of Commissioners over the last 11 months meant to help everyone from struggling small businesses to parents who need child care assistance.   Starting on Monday, Feb. 8, the county will begin a new program meant to help people and families who can’t pay their rent or their utility bills.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) discovered that fact again in a big way this week when it was made aware of 7,912 long delayed reports of positive cases from 40,000 tests from FastMed Urgent Care sites.

In an effort to spread that awareness, on Wednesday, Feb. 3, Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston sent a letter to NC Governor Roy Cooper inviting him and NC Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen to visit Guilford County.

The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners has decided on a final list of priorities that the state’s counties would like to see the NC General Assembly support. 

Well, so much for the retirement of former High Point Economic Development Corp. President Loren Hill … He retired on January 1, 2021, and now he’s just started a new job.  He did so on Monday, Feb. 1.

help is provided annually through a program known as the “High Point Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program,” (VITA) which offers free tax preparation by IRS-certified volunteers for those who are income-eligible.  People or families with a 2020 household income of $57,000 or less will be able to get the tax prep help starting on Tuesday, Feb. 9 and they can get it right up until the deadline for filing – April 15.

On Tuesday, Feb. 2, the city, along with Keep High Point Beautiful, announced the start of the 2021 incarnation of the annual litter cleanup campaign.  The beautification project will focus on collecting trash that’s accumulated along the city’s roadways and at intersections.

The Piedmont Triad Airport Authority – the board that oversees the airport’s operations – has just approved $250,000 to update its popular short-term parking area used by those dropping off and picking up passengers. The airport will replace the individual meters at 200 parking spaces in short term parking near the terminal building with an automated pay system.  The goal is to make it easier for airport visitors to pay for short-term parking.

There’s been a great deal of confusion and chaos at the county, state and federal level over COVID-19 vaccine allotments; however, on Tuesday, Feb. 2, state of North Carolina health officials announced new tools and other changes meant to help state residents get answers to their COVID-19 vaccine questions.

Over two years ago, High Point officials wrote off a request to Guilford County government as shot, dead and buried deep in the ground.  That request was a call for the county to help fund the construction of High Point’s downtown multi-use stadium. 

Local elected leaders in Guilford County have been working hard to acquire a steady supply of COVID-19 vaccine for county residents– but that supply is invariably depleted almost as soon as it arrives.  On Tuesday, Feb. 2, Guilford County put out notice that the latest batch of vaccine was all gone or spoken for. 

Guilford County’s supply of COVID-19 vaccine has been coming in in fits and starts, but right now there’s finally enough in the pipeline for county health officials to announce more vaccination appointments for the first week in February.

Everyone knows the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and, for the past week, a lot of local leaders have been squeaking very loudly together and, by doing so, they’ve been successful in bringing some much-needed COVID-19 vaccine doses to Guilford County.

It has all happened behind the scenes and many Guilford County officials aren’t even publicly acknowledging the fact, but Guilford County Deputy Manager Clarence Grier is no longer working for the county.

The long-awaited opening of the Guilford County behavioral health center – the centerpiece of a vastly overhauled mental health delivery system for county residents – is set for this spring and one of the key decisions for the future of that project has now been made. 

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners often has some very tough choices to make.

If you needed another reason to keep your guard up these days – well, on Thursday, Jan. 28, Guilford County health officials provided a good one.

It’s no secret that Guilford County and Cone Health have felt abandoned recently by the state when it comes to supplies of COVID-19 vaccine. 

The amount of mail coming in and out of PTIA in December of 2020 skyrocketed.  In fact, in December of 2020, more than 10 times as much mail was brought into PTIA as in December of 2019.

Brides often want a band of gold to put around their finger, but the Town of Summerfield is seeking a band of a different kind – a protective zoning band that would extend the town’s zoning ordinances up to two miles beyond Summerfield’s borders.

Jeron Hollis is well known to reporters and government officials across Guilford County and he’s about to get even more well known.  This week, Hollis accepted the role of “managing director of communication and public engagement” for the City of High Point.

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department has released its year end report for crime, and, while there is some good news, two disturbing trends are a rise in violent crime and a big jump in robbery.