Author: Scott D. Yost

A Guilford County Detention Services officer has been charged with misdemeanor assault in a case the Sheriff’s Office says occurred while he was working a private security job off duty.

Sheriff Danny Rogers reported that Detention Services Officer Chase Douglas Dixon, 42, turned himself in at the Guilford County Detention Center in Greensboro on Friday, Sept. 12…

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office stated on Wednesday, Sept. 17, that a call about “suspicious activity” on the 1200 block of Blackberry Ridge Drive in High Point ended up triggering a homicide case and it led to an arrest in a matter of days.

The Office reported that deputies were dispatched at about 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 9. After multiple interviews and an extensive search of the area, investigators located a crime scene and collected evidence…

When Guilford County taxpayers line up at an upcoming Thursday, Oct. 2,  public hearing for people to comment on or challenge the way the Guilford County Tax Department is determining property values for 2026, many will be surprised to learn that part of the information about how the county’s revaluation process operates can’t be copied, taken home or made public…

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners is preparing to give the site of the former Guilford County Animal Shelter on West Wendover Avenue to the City of Greensboro so that it can be used as a location for affordable housing.

Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston told the Rhino Times that Greensboro leaders had made the request of the county to use the property in that way.

The old shelter was demolished several years ago and the site has been in limbo since then. The commissioners have considered selling the land, which likely could have brought in a nice price since it’s near the highly commercialized high trafficked area near Bridford Road and I-40…

This fall in Greensboro is shaping up to be one of the busiest in recent memory, with the city rolling out family events, runs, festivals, and Halloween celebrations nearly every weekend.

Greensboro Parks and Recreation and city partners are putting on activities designed to get people downtown, connect neighborhoods – and give residents a lot of reasons to get outside.
This fall in Greensboro is shaping up to be one of the busiest in recent memory, with the city rolling out family events, runs, festivals, and Halloween celebrations nearly every weekend.

Greensboro Parks and Recreation and city partners are putting on activities designed to get people downtown, connect neighborhoods – and give residents a lot of reasons to get outside.

Here are just some of the highlights….

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing on Thursday, Oct. 2 at 5:30 p.m. in the Commissioners Meeting Room of the Old Guilford County Court House in downtown Greensboro to hear comments on the proposed schedules, standards and rules for the county’s 2026 property tax reappraisal.

Guilford County – like other counties in the state –  is required by North Carolina law to adopt a “schedule of values” before the next revaluation goes into effect. That schedule serves as the “playbook” for the Guilford County Tax Department’s appraisers when they go out and about in the county putting new values on every piece of property…

There have been a lot of celebratory send-offs for former Guilford County staff, commissioners, and other county leaders over the years, but at the Thursday, Sept. 4 meeting of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, Guilford County Family Justice Center Director Catherine Johnson got the royal treatment like never before.

Johnson, the only director the Family Justice Center has ever had in its 11-year history, is leaving the county to take the position of president and CEO of Alliance for HOPE International – a global nonprofit dedicated to supporting survivors of domestic and sexual violence…

Lately, governments in Greensboro and the surrounding area has been all about finding enough places for future masses of people to live – especially affordably – and this week some progress was made in that direction: Greensboro is set to gain more affordable housing thanks to new funding from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency’s 2025 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit awards…

At the Thursday, Sept. 4 meeting of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, the board voted unanimously to approve County Manager Victor Isler’s appointment of Natalie Craver as the county’s new assistant county manager.

The county uses lively names for its job titles and Craver will oversee the “Successful People” section of Guilford County’s government and she will also, perhaps even more importantly, serve as the director of the Guilford County Department of Health and Human Services.

That’s one of the county’s largest and hardest to run departments, so she’ll have her hands full from day one…

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office reported this weekend that on Monday, Sept. 1, Sheriff’s Office detectives with the Major Crimes Investigative Unit initiated an investigation that involved a juvenile victim.

A few days later, on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, 71-year-old Luster Coronelious Parker was arrested for one count of Felony Indecent Liberties with a Child…

Ordinarily there wouldn’t be a lot of focus on this City of Greensboro job, but with a current housing crisis that’s spiraling out of control, this job – and who occupies it – takes on a whole new importance.

The City of Greensboro has just appointed Samuel Hunter as director of the Housing and Neighborhood Development Department, effective Wednesday, Sept. 17….

One could argue that right now Guilford County needs more homes and infrastructure than it does jobs, but that isn’t stopping the county from spending money to bring in more new jobs.

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners went into closed session following the board’s open meeting on Thursday, Sept. 4 and, behind closed doors, the commissioners discussed, among other things, giving county taxpayer money to a new unnamed economic development project. …

At its Thursday, Sept. 4 meeting, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners wrapped up more than two years of staff work by unanimously adopting a new comprehensive land use plan for the county. The document, which now covers every corner of Guilford County, is intended to provide the framework for how growth and development will unfold over the next decade and beyond.

Forest Oaks residents, however, have their worries about the current situation…

At its Thursday, Sept. 4 meeting, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners took time to recognize a man whose name is woven into the fabric of Greensboro’s civic, political and economic life –  Jim Melvin.

The commissioners adopted a resolution honoring the longtime mayor, banker and philanthropist, describing him as a historic figure whose leadership and vision helped shape modern Greensboro into the city it is today….

It’s not quite as big a draw as a presidential election, but this year’s local election will mean a lot when it comes to the future directions of Greensboro and Jamestown.

The Guilford County Board of Elections has publicized the early voting schedule for the Tuesday, Oct. 7 Municipal Primary Election following the North Carolina State Board of Elections approval of the proposed schedule….

The High Point Enterprise has announced that it will cut back on its print editions beginning the week of September 29. The longtime daily which covers the county’s second largest city will move to a three-day print schedule – publishing Tuesday, Thursday and a Saturday Weekend edition.

The change means the Wednesday and Friday printed papers will be eliminated. Readers will still be able to access those editions online through the paper’s e-edition at hpenews.com, which becomes available at 5 a.m. each day…

A lot of people took off early for the holiday weekend, but incidents at area schools kept the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office’s hands full just before the weekend kicked in.  On Friday, Aug. 29, deputies handled two unrelated school incidents and noted that, despite the events, there’s no ongoing threat to students, staff or the community.

The first incident occurred at the Southeast Guilford High School football game. A security scanner indicated an incoming spectator could have a weapon. A former student, 22-year-old Octavius Mustophidae Benton II, told staff that he did in fact have a weapon. At that point, the School Resource Officer was notified, and Benton informed the SRO that the firearm was on his waistband…

Parents of rising seventh-graders and twelfth-graders in Guilford County will have multiple chances in September to get the state-required immunizations at walk-in clinics hosted at high schools in Greensboro and High Point.

North Carolina requires students entering seventh grade to have a Tdap shot (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) and a meningococcal conjugate vaccine. Students entering twelfth grade must have a booster dose of the meningococcal conjugate vaccine before the start of the senior year….

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners is expected to approve a new contract on Thursday, Sept. 4, with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services – that will spiff up the county’s forest land and keep it from catching fire.

The agreement covers everything from wildfire suppression to prescribed burns, hazard tree assessments, and landowner management plans….

The ongoing saga of Guilford County’s new Law Enforcement Administration Building – the Sheriff’s Office’s coming headquarters – isn’t over yet.

On Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners is expected to approve yet another change order for the long-delayed project – this time adding about $300,000 in new costs.

In February 2024, commissioners awarded Blum-WC Joint Venture a guaranteed maximum…

The Greensboro Chamber of Commerce drew a packed house to the Koury Convention Center on Wednesday, Aug. 27, for its 2025 State of Our Community Luncheon – one of the Chamber’s biggest annual gatherings.

 More than a thousand business leaders, elected officials, and community partners filled the ballroom for the program that both celebrated Greensboro’s current very impressive momentum and urged the community to keep pressing forward at a strong clip…

Guilford County property tax bills were already plenty high five years ago; however, over the last five years, the 7-to-2 democratic-majority Guilford County Board of Commissioners led by Chairman of the Board Skip Alston has been spending taxpayer money at record rates – and property tax bills are now a whole lot higher than they were before, and all signs point to much higher property tax bills on the way in 2026…

It’s been more than two decades since the City of Greensboro updated its historic district design standards; however, the city is preparing to adopt new guidelines this fall. To that end, on Tuesday, Sept. 9, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Nussbaum Room at the Central Library downtown, the Planning Department will hold a drop-in session on the revised Historic District Program Manual and Design Standards.

Those standards will apply to Greensb…

Guilford County government is currently dealing with hundreds of vacant positions across its departments, and the staff shortage is affecting services from law enforcement to emergency medical response to social services.

While county leaders have taken steps in recent years to raise pay, improve benefits and address work conditions, the new fiscal year of 2025-2026 begins with a workforce that remains far below full strength in many critical areas.

Next month Guilford County will try something new to help: In early September, the county will hold two sweeping job fairs – one in-person and one online – to hopefully draw the needed employees to county jobs…

Offices for the City of Greensboro will be closed on Monday, Sept. 1 in observance of Labor Day.

Also, no garbage or recycling collections will take place on September 1. Monday’s collections take place on Tuesday, Sept. 2, while Tuesday’s collections will be done on Wednesday, Sept. 3. The White Street Landfill and Solid Waste Transfer Station will be closed on September 1.

The Greensboro Public Libraries, Greensboro History Museum, and Greensboro Cultural Center are all closed on September 1….

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office is now providing information regarding an incident that occurred at the county’s Greensboro Detention Center on Thursday, August 14, involving 27-year-old Kurtis Darko Asante.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, Asante had been arrested by the Greensboro Police Department around 3:50 p.m. that day on a second-degree trespassing charge and he was transported to the Guilford County Detention Center in Greensboro….

There are some big egos in the City of Greensboro government and there are also some big machines that keep the city running. The first is always on display for people to see and now it will be possible to get a good view of the second as well.

The City of Greensboro’s Solid Waste and Recycling Department is rolling out its first Mighty Machines event next month – and it’s expected to be a big hit with families and residents who want to get an up-close look at the trucks and heavy equipment that keep the city running….

Local leaders are getting more and more concerned about Guilford County’s lack of adequate housing to handle the massive influx of people expected to flock to the area over the next decade and beyond, and Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston said this week that he had called and held a recent large meeting of multiple stakeholders and players – including local home builders, county planners and other county staff – that really drove home the point….

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office has released more information about a young child who was found walking alone in Greensboro earlier this month and the Office has now charged two relatives in connection with the incident.

On Friday, August 8, at roughly 7 p.m., sheriff’s deputies…

There’s an old movie titled “Mars Needs Women,” and that may or may not be true, but one thing that is definitely true is that Greensboro and Guilford County need housing. That need has grown so great that home prices have skyrocketed, the housing shortage has become critical, the City of Greensboro has implemented a massive new housing plan, state officials are attempting to make it easier to get new housing, and the Town of Summerfield lost about 1,000 acres of land due to a desire of many political leaders to allow more housing…

For decades, the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce has held a giant State of the Community event where area leaders report on – well, on the state of the community, of course.

And, also of course, the state of the community is always reported as being just fine – since economic development types don’t ever like to point out negatives. However, in recent years – and this year in particular – the state of the community, at least in terms of economic development, is actually fantastic….

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) announced recently that the state will begin preparing an application for federal funds meant to help struggling rural health providers like some of those across North Carolina.

The money would come from the new Rural Health Transformation Program that was created under HR1 – a sweeping federal initiative signed into law by President Donald Trump last month….

North Carolina is taking its opioid fight on the road.

This month, the state unveiled its first Mobile Opioid Treatment Program unit – the first of its kind in North Carolina – with plans for as many as ten more on the way before the end of the year.

The idea is straightforward but significant: If people struggling with opioid addiction can’t easily get to treatment, the state will bring treatment to them.,,,

It’s almost impossible to imagine the Guilford County Family Justice Center without thinking of Center Director Catherine Johnson – however, starting early next month, that’s exactly what county leaders and others will have to do…

Johnson, the only director the Guilford County Family Justice Center has ever known, is leaving her post for the international stage. She has accepted the position of president and CEO of Alliance for HOPE International – a global nonprofit dedicated to supporting survivors of domestic and sexual violence….

There’s something in the water flowing into and around High Point University – an educational institution that has earned a terrific reputation not just nationally but internationally over the course of this century.

It has won a vast number of accolades in the past and, recently, the school won more: HPU is the only North Carolina school to be ranked in the Top 10 nationally in the categories of Best-Run College, Best College Dorms, Career Services and Most Active Student Government Association…

The Guilford County Division of Public Health and the City of Greensboro’s Community Safety Department will mark International Overdose Awareness Day with a HOPE event – which stands for “Harm Reduction, Overdose Awareness, Prevention and Education.”

 It will take place on Thursday, Aug. 28, from 4:30 p.m….

A very nice and respected former state rep is no longer with us.

Former North Carolina State Representative Margaret “Maggie” Jeffus-Goltare, age 90, passed away on Saturday, Aug. 9 at Brookdale Assisted Living in Burlington.

She was a longtime Greensboro resident, a highly respected educator and a Democratic member of the North Carolina House of Representatives for 10 terms between 1991 and 2013…

For a town of about 11,000 people, Summerfield gets more than its share of media attention since it’s the home of constant drama, and, on Tuesday, Aug. 12, the mayor of the town announced that he had seen enough…

Summerfield Mayor Tim Sessoms resigned Tuesday, effective immediately, after more than a decade of public service to the town.

Sessoms announced the move in a press release stating, “It’s important in life to know when it’s time to call it a day.”…

A power outage shut down a number of Guilford County government offices in High Point on Tuesday,...

The City of Greensboro’s People & Culture Department has released its 2024-2025 Impact Report – a look at a year of new city programs, wellness efforts and process changes meant to make city employment more responsive and, in the department’s words, more “people-centered.”

The report and a Monday, Aug. 11 press release framed the past 2024-2025 fiscal…

One of the good ones is stepping down from Guilford County government.

As with any large organization or government body, not everyone working there is capable, dedicated, talented and respected among fellow workers; however, Guilford County Deputy Attorney Matthew Mason – known by everyone as Matt – was all of those things, and, now that he’s retiring, there are a whole lot of county leaders and employees who hate to see him go – not to mention those of us at the Rhino Times…

Anyone who’s now getting along in age and grew up in the city of Greensboro is highly aware of the tremendous impact that former Mayor Jim Melvin had on shaping of modern Greensboro.  Sadly, the man who devoted so much of his life to trying to improve and advance the city died in the early morning hours of Sunday, Aug. 10, leaving behind a very long list of lives he had helped improve and ways his existence had benefited the city he loved…

When Guilford County property owners get their new tax values on Jan. 1, 2026, most will see figures well above what’s now on their annual bills.

The Tax Department predicts property values will rise about 48 percent on average for Guilford County property owners, and homes, in particular, could climb closer to 50 percent…

Residents, business owners and frequent visitors to south Greensboro are being invited to attend the City of Greensboro’s fifth and final workshop for the South Greensboro Plan. The event, which will focus on housing and the economy, will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 16.

It will be happening at Allen Middle School at 1108 Glendale Dr. in Greensboro….

In a sign of things to come – and a sign of how things have been in the last decade – the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, on Thursday, Aug. 7, overturned a previous denial by the county’s Planning Board and gave the green light to a rezoning that will allow more homes to be built just south of NC Highway 150.

The nine-member Board of Commissioners voted to approve a request to rezone roughly 21 acres of land near the Triple Lakes subdivision from Agricultural (AG) to Conditional Zoning RS-40. ..

Guilford County government has tapped a new leader to oversee the local branch of one of the state’s most wide-reaching public service programs.

On Friday, Aug. 1, Natalie Owens officially stepped into her new role as director of the NC Cooperative Extension-Guilford County Center. County officials say Owens brings nearly three decades of experience in community engagement, nutrition education and public outreach, and they add that they expect her leadership…

On the evening of Monday, Sept. 15, the Kathleen Clay Edwards Family Branch Library in Greensboro will host an event meant to educate, engage and hopefully inspire local residents to get involved in protecting something people in the area depend on – the drinking water.

The one-hour program, which is called “Deep River Stories: Science, Stewardship, and Sustainability,” will take place from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and is open to all ages. Speakers will include Riverkeeper leaders Stephanie Stephens and Dr. Patricia Gray, as well as Steve Drew, the former director of Greensboro Water Resources….

According to Guilford County Social Services Director Sharon Barlow, the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which is now the One Big Beautiful Law, is projected to “significantly” impact Medicaid in Guilford County and North Carolina in ways that are very worrisome to local and state leaders.

That impact, Barlow told the Rhino Times, will come primarily through cuts to federal funding and the implementation of work requirements for able-bodied adults…

or High Point residents who’ve ever wondered what city government actually does – or how to get more involved in civic life – now there’s a free eight-week class that promises a front-row seat for that.

The City of High Point has launched “High Point 101,” a new civic engagement program that gives selected residents a behind-the-scenes look at how the city operates. The program is designed to increase transparency, improve communication with residents and encourage long-term involvement…