Author: Scott D. Yost

During February, March and April, Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) will be giving away a week of free parking and a FastPass membership to one lucky winner each month.

If the $1.7 billion bond referendum for Guilford County Schools construction and repair projects doesn’t pass, it won’t be because Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Skip Alston isn’t trying hard enough.  Alston is doing everything he can to encourage voters to pass the school bond referendum that will be on the ballot in the 2022 primary election currently set for May 17, and this week Alston went on another tour of an aging school with reporters in tow.

Steve Woznia, the famed programmer and computer designer has been working as High Point University’s “Innovator in Residence” for a campus project that has students developing a high-tech device that reads brainwaves and turns those thoughts into physical actions that can be carried out by machines.

On Thursday, Feb.17, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners will meet as the Guilford County Board of Health to consider rescinding the current mask mandate for Guilford County.  

Two Guilford County commissioners are getting some harsh criticism due to a picture posted on the county’s Facebook page.

Guilford County plans to enter into a contract with Weiser Security Services, Inc. that will be effective Sunday, Feb. 20, and that calls for both armed and unarmed security services at various locations in county buildings and on county properties.

At the Thursday, Feb.17 meeting of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, the commissioners will adopt a resolution – and present a framed copy – in honor of the James B. Dudley Senior High School Panthers Football Team led by Coach Steven Davis.  The team won the 2021 State 3-A Football Championship on Friday, Dec. 10.

On Valentine’s Day, when many people send messages of love, Guilford County government sent out a message asking non-profits, public bodies and other community organizations for proposals to use some of the money that’s been coming in from the federal government.  

On Valentine’s Day, the city announced that its Public Services Department will host a “same-day hiring event” on Saturday, Feb. 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Roy B. Culler, Jr. Senior Center at 921 Eastchester Dr., Suite 1230, at Oak Hollow Mall in High Point.

Ontex Operations USA, LLC. in Stokesdale, announced that it is holding a third job fair to find the right area employees.  The fair will be at Ontex’s Stokesdale Plant at 9300 NC 65 on Saturday, Feb. 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Guilford County Board of Commissioners like what they’re hearing about the new animal shelter and they think highly of the job Guilford County Animal Services Director Jorge Ortega is doing. 

A big rift formed late last year between Guilford County Commissioner James Upchurch and Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Skip Alston when Upchurch announced suddenly that he was changing his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican.   According to Upchurch, Alston, a lifelong Democrat, has encouraged speakers at commissioners’ meetings to criticize him and Alston has been giving him the cold shoulder ever since.

there certainly is such a thing as fantastic publicity and that’s exactly what Greensboro, High Point, Guilford County and the surrounding area have been getting ever since the Boom Supersonic announcement.

On Wednesday, Feb. 9, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department announced that it will be seeking applicants at a career fair in Forsyth County rather than Guilford County. 

Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston has been leading the charge when it comes to getting county voters to approve a $1.7 billion school bond that will be on the May 17 ballot. 

The Greensboro Chamber of Commerce announced this week that it has opened nominations for its 2022 Small Business Awards.

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department is trying hard to attract law enforcement professionals into joining, and now the minimum starting salary is over $40,000 a year. 

Guilford County government is working on behalf of local community workforce development organizations to help them land a federal grant of up to $20 million for workforce enhancement in Guilford County.  

The Guilford County Board of Health has announced that it will hold a meeting on Thursday, Feb.17 to hear an update from county health officials and decide whether to keep the current mask mandate in effect or get rid of it. 

Some people thought the Guilford County Board of Commissioners might do away with the existing countywide mask mandate at the board’s Thursday, Feb. 3 meeting.   However, that didn’t happen and now many residents are asking how long that mandate will be in effect. 

Greensboro attorney Frankie T. Jones Jr. just announced his desire to fill the Guilford County Board of Commissioners District 7 seat left vacant by the recent passing of longtime District 7 Commissioner Carolyn Coleman.

The Guilford County Parks Department has a new director, Dwight Godwin, a man who’s been reinvigorating the Parks Department as its interim director since May of 2021.

Guilford County health officials aren’t only concerned with having residents wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic – they also want to make sure residents have the right kind of masks to wear.  To that end, in the past week, the county has undertaken a massive effort to get N95 masks into the hands of as many people as possible.

Many Guilford County residents were hoping the Guilford County Board of Commissioners would do away with the current mask mandate at the Thursday, Feb. 3 meeting.

In a Wednesday, Feb. 3 funeral service limited to 200 people due to the COVID-19 pandemic, former Guilford County Commissioner Carolyn Coleman, who had died one week earlier, was celebrated at New Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Greensboro.

This week, the City of High Point Public announced that, later this month, the library will host a health screening event.  The services are being provided at the library by High Point University’s Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy.  There’s no cost for the services, which will be offered on Thursday, Feb. 24, from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Over the last two years, housing prices in North Carolina and Guilford County have skyrocketed, so a lot of people may be shocked when they see that new sticker price the Tax Department has slapped on their home. 

According to information state health officials sent out on Wednesday, Feb. 2, North Carolina laboratories reported that there were 2,627,371 tests performed across the state last month. That included 11 days with more than 100,000 tests being performed – with a one-day high of 135,031.  That peak was reached on Wednesday, Jan. 12.

Last week when NC Gov. Roy Cooper and a Who’s Who of local leadership collectively announced the arrival of Boom Supersonic and its $500 million super-factory at Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) there was one question a lot of people had on their minds during the hour-long presentation on the bitterly cold afternoon: Why in the world was the event held outdoors in the terminal parking deck rather than just yards away inside the spacious terminal where it was a balmy 73 degrees.

On Tuesday, Feb. 1, state health officials announced that some much-needed federal help would be provided to Guilford County and some other counties across the state now struggling to provide adequate ambulance service.

Guilford County Board of Commissioners District 7 Representative Carolyn Coleman’s funeral that will take place on Thursday, Feb. 3. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, attendance at the services will be limited to 200 invitees – however, others who wish to watch may do so via live streaming.

High Point and Keep High Point Beautiful are hosting the Sixth Annual Winter Wipeout – a litter collection campaign that focuses largely on sprucing up roadways and intersections in the city. The one-month campaign starts on Monday, Feb. 7, and runs through Sunday, March 6.  During February and early March, local volunteers can get free supplies and clean up the selected area at the time of their choosing.

Guilford County Commissioner Carolyn Coleman served on the Board of Commissioners for nearly 20 years, so the first meeting after her sudden demise will feel strange.  Though Coleman won’t be at the meeting on Thursday, Feb. 3, she will be a primary subject of discussion since the board plans to pass a resolution honoring the life and contributions of the commissioner who, among other things, made history by being the county’s first female African-American chair of the board.

The Guilford County Division of Public Health is using $36,000 in grant money to establish a new full-time position dedicated to the prevention of viral hepatitis.

Guilford County has seen an influx of a massive amount of federal money over the last two years and that will continue on Thursday, Feb. 3 when the board votes to accept $2.4 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. 

In recent years, the Guilford County Department of Health and Human Services and Guilford County government as a whole have been putting a lot of effort into preventing infant mortality in the county.

Last week there was water, water everywhere in the Guilford County Courthouse in High Point and that damage shut down nearly all operations there except for the Guilford County Family Justice Center.  On Friday, Jan 28, the county announced a partial reopening for the Courthouse and provided an update on what citizens can and can’t do there for the time being.

In February, right after Valentine’s Day, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department is offering the “Sheriff’s Citizen Academy” to Guilford County residents so they can learn more about local law enforcement operations and the department’s internal processes.

Boom Technology Inc. chose to bring its $500 million “super factory” to Guilford County. Just hours before the jet maker made that announcement, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted, at a virtual early morning meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 26, to approve an economic development incentive for “80 percent of eligible tax revenue paid by the company for a period of ten years.”

Guilford County Commissioner Carolyn Coleman, who faced several health issues in recent years, passed away this week and it’s no surprise that there was an outpouring of love for her. 

Guilford County Commissioner Carolyn Coleman, one of the most outspoken and colorful commissioners the county has ever known, passed away in a hospital bed on Wednesday, Jan. 26.

On Wednesday, Jan. 26, at 2 p.m., there was an atmosphere of complete and utter joy at Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) where a large number of local and state leaders assembled to hear the announcement that Boom Technology Inc. was locating at PTIA.

At a Tuesday, Jan. 25 short meeting of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority, one item that was a topic of discussion is the state of passenger traffic at the airport that, like other airports around the world, has been hurt tremendously by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Thursday, Feb. 3, people will get a chance to speak on Guilford County’s plan to issue $31.2 million in bonds for repair and construction projects, as well as an additional $4.3 million in bonds for a new sheriff’s headquarters.

Julie Luck, one of the most watched and beloved newscasters in the region, had some bad news for her WFMY News 2 audience at the end of the 6 p.m. broadcast on Tuesday, Jan. 25.  As the show wrapped up, Luck explained that she would be off the air for some time due to a recent diagnosis of colon cancer after a colonoscopy.

Guilford County’s Department of Social Services just got a new director, but the department’s new leader – Sharon Barlow – is no stranger to Guilford County government. 

Relay for Life of the Triad – a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society – is moving to a new location this year and the event is expected to be bigger and better than ever. 

On Monday, Jan. 24, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners – exercising its authority as the Guilford County Board of Public Health – gave notice of a meeting for the purpose of “reviewing public health metrics as it relates to COVID-19 in order to evaluate the option to repeal or hold the Board of Health rule related to the reinstatement of mask mandates implemented on January 13, 2022.”

There may not be any such thing as a free lunch, but the City of High Point does have some free money for organizations attempting to help the needy. 

A break in a small water line has left a big building in High Point closed for a week.