Author: Scott D. Yost

At a time when many federal politicians are staying as far away as they can from town hall meetings, the Guilford County commissioners are perfectly happy to face their constituents and hear what those voters have to say – whether it’s good or bad.

Now that the 2025-2026 Guilford County fiscal budget process is well underway – a new budget will be adopted in June – the commissioners are holding a series of budget town halls as well as events where people can learn about available county services.

Area residents have three chances to learn about existing county programs, hear what’s going on with the process of forming the upcoming budget, and share feedback on budget priorities and other issues with the commissioners…

On Friday, March 7, the Rhino Times published an article expressing amazement at the vast amount of cocaine that had been seized by law enforcement authorities in Greensboro and Guilford after three arrests in as many weeks had taken millions of dollars of cocaine off the streets.

Just hours after that article was published, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office announced that, in January 2025, deputies with the Sheriff’s Office’s VICE/Narcotics Unit – working alongside the Greensboro Police Department, the Eden Police Department, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) – had conducted a narcotics investigation that resulted in the seizure of 161 kilograms of cocaine…

Apparently, there’s a whole lot of cocaine in Guilford County these days.

A whole lot.

In the past few weeks, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office and the Greensboro Police Department have had three huge busts and taken millions of dollars of cocaine off the market…

Last summer, the Rhino Times reported that the Greensboro City Council had accepted a $50,000 grant from the NC Department of Environmental Quality for a program that might be very alarming to privacy advocates. The Rhino reported that the city was installing artificial intelligence software and hardware on some of the city’s recycling trucks – which would use video monitoring, photography and very precise geo-location tags to find those people who are violating the city’s recycling rules.

On Thursday, March 6, 2025, the city announced that our new AI trash and recycling overlords will be getting in contact with those who violate the city’s recycling rules.

This new program is being funded through a Community Waste Reduction and Recycling grant from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and, according to city officials, “It aims to improve curbside recycling by identifying contamination and educating residents in real-time.”…

The 2023 Infant and Child Mortality Data from the North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force Report found a huge disparity in infant deaths in the state and that disparity is getting worse. The study revealed that, in 2023, Black infants died at rates three times higher than white infants.

The study also found that non-Hispanic Black and American Indian children have higher mortality rates compared to other racial and ethnic groups.

“When compared to other states, North Carolina had the 10th highest infant mortality rate in the country, highlighting the critical need for the Department of Health and Human Services efforts to ensure the health and well-being of children and families,” a statement from Health and Human Services noted this week after the results of the study were released….

When President Donald Trump met with the head of Taiwan Semiconductor on Monday, March 3 to announce a $100 billion investment in American chip factories in the next few years, the North Carolina furniture business wasn’t expected to be a topic of conversation; however, Trump made some remarks that day that, if accurate, should make a lot of people in High Point and other past furniture centers in North Carolina happy.

Taiwan Semiconductor’s business is likely to end up in Arizona, but the president took some time to speak about what he expects to see happen due to tariffs he’s already placed on Canada, Mexico and China – and the ones he intends to add to many other countries on April 2.,,, 

According to a new poll out of Elon University, Americans, for the most part, expect to see short-term economic pain due to the new US tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed on Canada, Mexico and China.

The survey, which was conducted in early February – before Trump’s tariffs actually went into effect –  also found that Americans, especially Republicans, have some hope for positive long-term outcomes for the economy thanks to the tariffs…

History is coming back to life once again as the City of Greensboro and the National Park Service gear up for an annual reenactment of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.

It’s set for the weekend of Saturday, March 15 and Sunday, March 16.

 The free event will take visitors back to the Revolutionary War era with a series of living history programs at Country Park and Guilford Courthouse National Military Park….

On Monday evening, March 3, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office reported that on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at just after 3:30 p.m., deputies executed a search warrant for a narcotics violation at 7986 Lester Road in Stokesdale.  It turns out they found quite a bounty of all sorts of drugs and even a military-grade smoke grenade.

As a result of the investigation, 35-year-old Chase Stephens, a Stokesdale resident, was arrested and charged with a wide range of crimes…

Guilford County and local governments across the state are doing what they can to help substance abusers kick the habit – with a special focus now on deadly opioids such as fentanyl. However, public health workers and volunteer organizations across the state are also trying to help protect those who continue using drugs.

One way Guilford County does that is by distributing free kits with items designed to help people stay safer when using drugs. This kit is part of a “harm reduction” approach, which aims to prevent overdoses, infections, and other health risks for people who use drugs….

A tragic accident in Greensboro has local officials urging all residents to prioritize pool safety after a young child drowned in a neighbor’s backyard pool on Saturday afternoon.

According to the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to a home at 1903 Thayer Circle about 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 1, after reports that a 4-year-old boy had been found unresponsive in a pool.  

Thayer Circle is off of West Gate City Boulevard just north of Grandover Resort…

Guilford County is conducting a countywide property revaluation of all real property in the county, and, right now, it looks like housing prices in Guilford County will come in, on average, about 50 percent higher than they did when they were assessed in 2022, the last time Guilford County held a revaluation.

A look at the percentage price increase in houses, buildings and land in the counties across the state offers some interesting insight into what’s happening in North Carolina. Different counties are on different cycles and, in 2025, there were 22 counties that conducted revaluations – and almost all of them have seen big jumps in prices since the last time their county tax assessors put a value on their homes, buildings or other property….

For decades, Page High School was a football powerhouse in the state and just about every time they played their archrival Grimsley, the Page Pirates won.  Now, however, it is the time for the Grimsley Whirlies – who went undefeated and won the North Carolina 4-A High School State Football Championship in 2024 – to crow.

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners will greet the team, honor them and help them crow at the next Guilford County Board of Commissioners meeting on Thursday, March 6….

If you walk by a manhole or a city street sewer drain and see mysterious clouds of smoke coming from below, don’t be alarmed. There is no fire; it’s not a problem; and, no, it’s not some city workers getting high underground on the public’s dime.

Instead, what’s happening is that – from now through March – city contractors will be using smoke to test the city’s sewer lines. During that testing, the smoke – which poses no danger to your health – will be sent into manholes to flow through sewer lines…

The Piedmont Triad Airport Authority – the seven-member board that oversees airport operations – met earlier this week and, as is the board’s practice, released the latest stats on flyers, cargo, flights and other airport-related matters.

One bright spot in the new statistics is that the number of people flying in and out of Piedmont Triad International Airport continues to rise: The number of passengers was up 8 percent in January of 2025 over January of 2024 and, also, of course, up 8 percent year-to-date since January is the only complete month of the new year…

Earlier this month, after hearing High Point citizens’ concerns regarding a proposed rerouting of the section of the popular greenway that runs through the campus of High Point University, the university “acknowledged the importance of this section of the greenway to its enthusiastic users” – and now the school has withdrawn its earlier proposal to re-route the greenway. 

High Point Mayor Cyril Jefferson issued a public statement this week praising the decision….

Everyone knows there’s a problem with gun violence in Guilford County, but an eye-opening new study from the Guilford County Division of Public Health shows just how bad the problem is getting, that the trend is going in the wrong direction, and that the problem is greater in Guilford County than in other similarly sized counties in the state.

Every four years, the Guilford County Division of Public Health works with residents, community partners and healthcare providers to conduct a major and extensive report of the health of the community and the problems facing it. On Wednesday, Feb. 26, the county’s public health officials released their 2023-2024 Community Health Assessment – titled “Our Community. Our Health.”…

Just like the killer in the Friday the 13th slasher franchise, the quarter-cent sales tax referendum keeps coming back from the dead and reappearing – and county voters will see it once again on the ballot in the 2026 Primary Election in March.

Though that’s a ways off, there is a lengthy process involved with getting a referendum on the ballot and Alston told the Rhino Times this week that, despite voters shooting down the referendum many times previously, he plans to advocate putting it back on the ballot at the first available chance… 

Let’s face it, some of the City of Greensboro’s municipal buildings are looking long in the tooth and they could use a facelift or at least a little something to spruce them up. 

Like, for instance, some nice artwork created by local artists.

That’s why Creative Greensboro – the City’s office that promotes the arts and culture – is seeking applications for “Arts in Municipal Spaces,” a new initiative designed “to exhibit the work of local artists in the public corridors of municipal buildings throughout the city.”…

You might do a double take, when, after the Guilford County Tax Department finishes its revaluation of all property in the county, it sends you the new amount. 

Because it’s very likely to be a whole lot more than you expect. In fact, the value of your home is likely to increase by much more than the 32 percent increase publicized earlier this month. 

The 32 percent increase was a dramatic underestimate based on a mathematical miscalculation. The actual amount of the average increase is 47 percent…

For some people, the month of March means great college basketball; for others it’s a chance to drink a lot on Saint Patrick’s Day without being judged. 

However, for the Guilford County Tax Department, it’s the month where tax employees bring public shame on those who didn’t pay their Guilford County property taxes by the deadline, which this year fell on Tuesday, Jan. 7. 

The bills came out in July of 2024, so property owners had plenty of time to pay their bills, but now those who didn’t will be on the Tax Department’s public naughty list that includes those people and organizations that didn’t meet that deadline….

It’s not the first time that Chairman of the Guilford County Board of  Commissioners Skip Alston has been to the governor’s mansion in Raleigh, but this time Alston was invited for a special occasion – to receive an honor from the governor. 

The newly elected Democratic governor had invited Alston to the state capital where Stein held an event to celebrate 40 prominent African-American entrepreneurs around the state who were also leaders in, and had had a widespread positive influence on, their various communities.

The event, which was held in part to honor Black History Month, took place at the Executive Mansion and began at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb.18. …

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office is reporting that, on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at about 5:34 p.m., deputies received an alert regarding a missing 12-year-old girl from Clearwater, Florida.

The young girl was believed to be en route to a Greensboro address where a “known suspect” was living. 

According to a report released on Thursday, Feb. 20,  “The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the Pinellas Park Police Department, which advised department deputies that an Amber Alert was entered for the child….

There are discount airlines and then there are deep discount airlines – and Piedmont Triad International Airport just landed a very deep discount airline that, starting in June, will be offering nonstop flights to Orlando, Florida and Hartford, Connecticut.

Breeze Airways announced this week that, beginning on Friday, June 6 this year, the carrier will begin daily nonstop service from Piedmont Triad International Airport to both of those cities.

PTI is constantly trying to add new flights and new airlines – and one slot of air travel it likes to see filled is the discount airline spot.

Therefore, Executive Director of Piedmont Triad Airport Authority Kevin Baker was of course delighted with the addition of a new very low-cost provider. One of the knocks against PTI is that, when compared to the airports in Raleigh and Durham, fares from PTI are higher.
…

A couple of years ago, one of the big stories in the housing world nationally was the way in which institutional investors were gobbling up housing and driving prices, well, through the roof.  That was particularly true in North Carolina, where the housing market was red hot and corporate investors were focused on it.

However, that trend is now slowing down, and institutional housing investment has become a much less significant driver of housing prices.

One reason that’s particularly important in Guilford County is that the county is currently conducting a revaluation of the actual market worth of all real estate in the county – the new values will go on the county’s books in 2026 – and some homeowners feel that institutional buying is significantly artificially inflating the price of area homes…

Both the City of Greensboro and Guilford County government are trying to encourage the growth of housing in the city and the county, and, on Tuesday, Feb. 18, the Greensboro City Council took another concrete move to help make that happen. 

The Council unanimously adopted a motion meant to make it easier for developers to build much-needed housing. City officials are calling the move a “significant development-friendly zoning change.”

During the City Council’s regular meeting on February 18, the Council voted to amend Greensboro’s zoning regulations designated for Planned Unit Development, which is a group of single-family homes, condos or townhouses where all the homeowners are members of a homeowners association…

The Greensboro Police Department and the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office make drug-related arrests all the time, but the Sheriff’s Office has announced that a joint action of the two law enforcement agencies led to the arrest of a middle-aged man speeding along I-40 who was in possession of an extremely large amount of cocaine.

The Sheriff’s Office announced that, on Tuesday, Feb. 11, deputies with the VICE/Narcotics Unit of the department, in collaboration with the officers from the Greensboro Police Department “conducted a narcotics investigation that resulted in the arrest of 38-year-old Honorio Diaz-Vargas.”…

The City of Greensboro just put out a Request for Proposals from “qualified professionals interested in developing and executing events or programs at various Parks and Recreation or City facilities…

According to that request, city leaders want to see proposals for programs that create “low-barrier, high impact opportunities for community enrichment and engagement.”
            They’re welcoming proposals from either organizations or from individuals who have experience planning and carrying out high-quality community programming…

After a decade of debate, and at times a lot of public outcry, a decision has finally been reached as to how a key spot in Greensboro – land on the northwest corner of Hobbs Road and Friendly Avenue – will be developed…

 The debate began in 2016 when an Atlanta-based property development company purchased the land. Since the land’s purchase six years ago by Greensboro-based Carroll Companies, discussions have continued.

Now the fate of the property has been decided.

On Monday, Feb. 17, The Carroll Companies announced that, after roughly five years of planning, meeting with neighbors, public debate and analyzing the best prospects for the property, owner Roy Carroll now has “the foundation of a plan that’s a really good mix of uses” for that land, which is proximate to the old Friendly Shopping Center as well as to the newer The Shops at Friendly…

Usually, in Greensboro and Guilford County, when weather brings down a bunch of powerlines, it’s because of falling ice; however, on Sunday, Feb. 16, high winds wreaked havoc on the residents of Guilford County and others across North Carolina. 

Though Duke Energy crews were working hard on recovering power all day Sunday – and the weather on Monday was nice – some customers in Greensboro were still being told it would be 8 p.m. on Monday night, Feb. 17, before their power would be restored.

Hank Henning, a former Guilford County commissioner who’s now the local district manager of government and community relations for Duke Energy, said that, while ice is often the main culprit in this area, high winds, such as those that struck on Sunday, can be equally as troublesome…

Though the publication was often unfairly critical of the Rhino Times, the alternative far-left Greensboro publication known as Triad City Beat did have its moments of breaking real news, and, truly, the disappearance of yet one more news publication – even a far-left leaning one that could be unfair at times – is undesirable. 

Over the last decade, local news outlets – and national ones as well – have been dropping like flies, and, recently, Triad City Beat Editor Sayaka Matsuoka announced that, despite a major effort to remain in operation, the newspaper would be folding at the end of February…

Guilford County officials have discovered a major mistake that has left fire departments across the county in a big bind: The departments, which are already struggling financially, do not have $2.3 million in funding that those departments were counting on from Guilford County.

The departments across the county already operate on very thin margins, so the newly discovered deficit could mean some departments are unable to fund planned expenses or buy needed new equipment the firefighters were counting on. 

The shortfall affects larger departments more than small ones, and the funding will need to be made up somehow….

Guilford County should feel delighted that the county is suddenly in recent years the belle of the ball, with major companies opening shop here – at the megasite, at the airport megasite, all over High Point, and in structures in unincorporated Guilford County. 

Of course, there’s a problem with the influx of people to the county – the infrastructure of what used to be a quaint little county is being stressed to the max.  It can be seen, for instance, in the ridiculous amount of traffic on Greensboro roads, and it can also be seen in the current giant housing shortage in Guilford County…

Even though Hurricane Helene ravaged North Carolina in September of last year, now, in mid-February of 2025, the tragedy is still front and center on the minds of North Carolina legislators who are currently banging out relief and recovery plans for the victims whose lives were decimated by the massive rainfall, flash flooding and high winds.

NC Governor Josh Stein and state lawmakers haven’t yet reached an agreement on the amount of money to be spent in a plan to meet immediate needs; however, the governor has proposed a plan that would cost slightly more than $1 billion, while state lawmakers are talking about an amount of roughly half that…

The city of High Point and developers in that city have proven to be very good in recent years when it comes to taking old buildings and property, renovating and repurposing them – and the city is sticking with the same playbook in 2025.

On Wednesday, Feb. 12, the economic development group Downtown High Point announced that a Virginia-based historic rehab development team has been selected to revitalize Showplace West/One Plaza Center in High Point…

There’s been a change at the top of one of Greensboro’s most influential, well-known and important foundations. 

There are very rarely changes to the Board of Directors of the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation of Greater Greensboro; however, now there’s a brand-new board member. Former North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Chancellor Harold Martin is now sitting in the seat on the board that educator and civil rights advocate Shirley Frye had held since the foundation was established in 1986…

The Guilford County Tax Department is currently finishing up a county-wide revaluation of every piece of property in Guilford County and, according to the numbers as they stand right now, on average, the values of homes and businesses are more than 30 percent higher than they were four years ago when the 2022 revaluation was conducted.

Now, a large increase in housing and other property values does not automatically lead to an increase in tax bills because local governments always have the option of lowering the tax rate to a level that would mean the amount of money coming into the county from property taxes remained roughly the same, and it would also mean that the tax bills of property owners would stay at current levels….

Well, the City of High Point just started its big winter event where the city tries to get residents and volunteer groups to go out – while the foliage is minimal – and pick up all the trash they see along roads, streams, intersections and other high trafficked areas.

On the heels of that event in High Point, on Monday, Feb. 10, Greensboro Beautiful announced that it’s hosting a “Winter Wipeout: Coffee and Cleanup program” that will run through the month of February…

Especially with a new president in town and with the team he’s been putting together to handle national health, there’s been a lot of questions flying around regarding vaccines.  However, there has been no such debate within the Guilford County Division of Public Health, which, on Monday, Feb. 10, put out a strongly worded public statement urging all county residents over the age of 6 months to get vaccinated for influenza….

On Thursday, Feb. 6, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners took a major step in battling homelessness in the county. They did so by giving final approval for a project with a total price tag of over $8 million – turning the former nursing home into a place where those recovering from substance abuse can get help.

Until about 6 years ago, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners hardly ever even mentioned the homeless problem – not because they didn’t care, but because it was an issue that was considered to be under the domain of the cities, the collective non-profits and other agencies designed to address the issue…

The Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, the local business community and others interested in seeing the area grow have – in conjunction with the Manufacturing Institute – begun a new program meant to enhance the workforce and bring high-quality people into the city and Guilford County to live and work.

The Manufacturing Institute is a national nonprofit that, among other things, helps veterans transition from military service into the workforce…

As everyone knows, there’s a tremendous problem finding affordable housing in Guilford County – especially in Greensboro and High Point.

This week, High Point University did something about it: The school donated $500,000 to the High Point Community Foundation to help advance a program meant to provide quality, affordable housing for families in High Point…

The City of High Point and Keep High Point Beautiful are hosting the eighth annual “Winter Wipeout” litter cleanup campaign – an annual event that focuses on cleaning up the litter off of roadways, intersections, parks and streams.

The campaign, which kicked off on Monday, Feb. 3, will run through Sunday, March 2 this year.

During this time, volunteers who want to help keep High Point looking good can pick up their supplies from the city and help clean up whenever it works best given their schedule…

A lot of volunteers at the Guilford County animal shelter say the county should have just left well enough alone last year and let the shelter continue to handle donations as it had done for years.  Under that previous system, shelter workers would take in the donations and just use them in the best way they thought could help the shelter, the county and pet owners.

However, about a year ago, county administrators imposed new rules that resulted in huge problems with the shelter’s donation operations. 

At the Board of Commissioners, Thursday, Feb. 6 meeting, the commissioners will unveil and adopt a new plan that will align the animal shelter with the Guilford County Division of Social Services and hopefully cut out much of the red tape that’s been causing all the problems…

Each year, the City of Greensboro gets about $9 million in federal funds in the form of  Community Development Block Grants from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, better known as HUD.

The money is meant to be used for “housing development, rehabilitation, infrastructure repairs, and community services.”

 Every five years, the city is required to conduct a review of its community and housing needs in order to determine the best use of the money…

Everyone knows the ancient Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.”

 Well, the residents in Summerfield are living in extremely interesting times and, now, after the Summerfield Town Council recently called for an investigation of the actions of former Town Manager Scott Whitaker and other former town staff, a professional association based out of Wichita, Kansas meant to help city and town managers do their jobs professionally and efficiently is calling for an investigation of the investigators – claiming it is the current Summerfield town manager and most of the Town Council members who are actually the ones that have been acting unethically and have violated North Carolina law…

As President Donald Trump’s massive deportation effort of illegal aliens in the country intensifies – and those who stand in his way are being targeted for retribution – a recent lengthy press release from the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office makes it crystal clear that the Office is in no way a “sanctuary agency.”

 That is, it’s not a place like certain cities, such as New York or Chicago, where law enforcement officers don’t communicate and cooperate with ICE officials.

Jim Secor, a deputy county attorney and legal advisor to the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office, said this week a recent news report about Trump’s crackdown on illegal aliens mistakenly named Guilford County as a sanctuary area and, Secor said, the Sheriff’s Office felt compelled to clear up the misconception…

 On Monday, Feb. 3 Greensboro Attorney Adam Marshall – a lifelong resident of the city – declared his candidacy for the District 4 seat on the Greensboro City Council.

According to his campaign announcement, he’s a “dedicated family man… committed to further enriching the community he calls home.”…