Author: Scott D. Yost

The Guilford County health department has hired a new fulltime medical director, Dr. Marie Caro, who health department officials say will play a big role in plans the department has to expand its operations into the primary care of patients

It probably won’t get as much attention as the Academy Awards, but the Guilford County health department is getting ready to give out some awards of its own – to people and organizations who advance the cause of public health in the community. The health department plans to give out the awards in mid-December in an effort to shine a light on those in Guilford County who are making important contributions to public health.

The Guilford County Prison Farm is becoming the Rodney Dangerfield of economic development sites – it gets no respect.

A lawsuit filed by the News & Record and three other newspapers against Guilford County hasn’t been heard yet, but, despite that, the suit is still accomplishing its main purpose: It has put the county’s plans to expand its public notice operations on hold.

Thanksgiving just came and went, and now it’s the Christmas season, but it doesn’t appear that Christmas spirit is being felt by the Summerfield Town Council. After the Town Council’s pre-Thanksgiving meeting adjourned, Summerfield Mayor Gail Dunham and other members of the council engaged in a heated exchange that continues a running theme for the town.

The Guilford County Economic Development Alliance (GCEDA) is working with Greensboro-based consulting firm the Timmons Group to identify overlooked sites in Guilford County that can be used for future development. GCEDA is attempting to get those sites recorded and in the pipeline to enhance economic growth in the coming years.

As tunnels go, it’s not the Chunnel – the $21 billion, 31-mile, underwater tunnel between France and England – but Guilford County’s less impressive tunnel from the old jail to the Guilford County Courthouse in downtown Greensboro is big source of consternation for county officials right now.

Republic Services, the waste disposal and recycling company that serves much of unincorporated Guilford County and some of its towns, seems to finally be getting its act together. The Summerfield Town Council has just renewed the waste company’s exclusive agreement with that town and Guilford County Commissioners say the constant stream of complaints they’ve been getting all year about Republic Services has slowed to a trickle.

There’s a big fight going on right now over whether Guilford County should save the Otto Zenke building at 400 W. Washington St. in downtown Greensboro or bulldoze it into oblivion.

High Point often considers itself the “red-headed step child” when it comes to Guilford County government, and, whenever Greensboro gets a county service, High Point wants that service too. This even holds true in the jails and now the High Point jail looks like it will finally get what by all accounts is a positive program that’s proven successful in the Greensboro jail – a new inmate literacy program meant to teach inmates better reading and communication skills.

For Shakespeare the question was to be or not to be, however, right now the Guilford County Board of Commissioners is facing a different question all together: To spend some of the county’s savings account or not. That’s the question before the board that has to pay for a host of major projects including a $15-million animal shelter, a $15-million mental health center, a $20-million Emergency Services vehicle maintenance base, and a new law enforcement building that could cost $20 million or more. So the commissioners are looking at $70 million for new buildings with construction costs rising.

Right now, Guilford County has a sheriff – BJ Barnes – and a sheriff-elect – Danny Rogers – and apparently this county isn’t big enough for the two of them.

The Guilford County elections department has just held a major election and now all those machines the county’s voters used have to be sold off or scrapped – and the county must buy new machines at an estimated cost of $7 million.

A planned regional DNA lab in Guilford County is now dead in the water according to Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes.

The Old Guilford County Court House is ready for it’s close up.

More details are emerging about Guilford County’s new $14.5 million mental health services building that the county is planning to build on Third Street in Greensboro near the intersection of East Wendover Avenue and Summit Avenue.

It’s official.

The Guilford County commissioners had their first meeting with new Sheriff-elect Danny Rogers and his input could be a factor in a potential big change in the county’s plans.

Guilford County is planning to build a $14.5 million mental health facility near the Guilford County Health and Human Services office to replace the downtown Greensboro mental health services building that the county agreed to sell to the City of Greensboro in September. The new building, which will house mental health administrative services and have a 16-bed unit for mental health patients, is expected to open in about two years.

Brother can you spare a dime?

When it comes to audits of $600 million budgets, no news is good news – and that’s exactly what Guilford County government officials got in the results of the audit of the Guilford County 2017-2018 fiscal year.

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Many people in Guilford County were stunned when 24-year Republican Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes was defeated by Democratic challenger Danny Rogers, and the shockwaves of that election continue to rumble through Guilford County government.

One election is over and now it’s time for another one. The Guilford County Board of Commissioners is set – meet the new board same as the old board – and now the commissioners must, as they do each year, select a chairman. That vote will take place in early December but talks are already underway.