Author: Scott D. Yost

Greensboro’s economic development community lost a key player in the city’s efforts to bring new business to the area, David Ramsey – who for years has been putting in a lot of effort in Greensboro’s efforts to attract new industry as the executive vice president of economic development for the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce – has taking a job with general contractor Landmark Builders. Ramsey has been named the company’s new director of business development for the Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem market.

Right now, the national polls have Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden out ahead of President Donald Trump. However, Friday, Aug. 21, Republican Guilford County Commissioner Alan Branson said he is confident Trump will not only arise victorious, but will do so in convincing fashion in November.

A group in High Point is looking for some willing high school students to help beautify the city.

This week, the NC Board of Elections made changes meant to help the absentee voting process run more smoothly.

You wouldn’t think that financially challenged families would need any encouragement to seek more help during these very challenging times.

No one needs any more potential problems with people voting in the upcoming election. However, Cathy Bencini and her husband, former High Point Mayor Bill Bencini, came across one when trying to help Cathy’s 96-year-old mother vote from a nursing home.   Her mother is a resident of Pennybryn at Maryfield in High Point and the problem came when the two were attempting to help the mother vote in the upcoming election.

At the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Thursday, Aug. 20 meeting, the board is set to approve the acceptance and distribution of a large federal/state Home And Community Care Block Grant.

There’s no doubt going to be a lot of anxiety this year for North Carolina’s teachers and other school personnel.

The meeting-style of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners has undergone several transformations since the start of the coronavirus crisis earlier this year. At first, the board met in the Old Guilford County Court House with no press or members of the general public admitted.

Recently, basically out of the blue, Guilford County began advertising to hire a new director of Health and Human Services, a position that will oversee the giant department that the Guilford County Board of Commissioners combined into one about seven years ago.

In response to the fact that a half dozen Guilford County detention officers recently tested positive for coronavirus, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department is implementing a new program that will provide COVID-19 testing for all detention officers, all members of the jail medical staff, as well as every inmate – in both the county jail in Greensboro and the one in High Point.

For the months this year when protest and the pandemic have gripped the county, the number of pistol purchase permit applications more than tripled.

Guilford County didn’t exactly win the lottery when it came to federal funding in the first federal COVID-19 relief program earlier this year.

This week, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department reported that six Guilford County detention officers tested positive for COVID-19 during July and August.

This weekend, Irving Park became a very rowdy place as a mass of angry protesters gathered outside the home of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Country Club Drive.

Earlier this month, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners approved the purchase of a $420,000 thermal imaging camera system that will be put in place in a half-dozen county buildings that are used heavily by the public.

The NC Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management (NCEM) and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) announced on Tuesday, Aug. 11 that the state is offering a new, expedited reimbursement program meant to expand sheltering options with proper social distancing in communities across the state.

It used to be that people didn’t want to have a scarlet “A” on their clothes, and, soon, Guilford County citizens who wish to enter a county building won’t want to have a scarlet dot on their head that could also cause them to be shunned like Hester Prynne.

A previously hot war over access to public documents in Summerfield has turned into a cold war that appears no closer to resolution after arbitration.

It used to be that, whenever economic incentives requests came before the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, a major debate ensued.

Dogs are man’s best friend and friends tend to share things.

Pandemics are, as a rule, bad for the mental health of just about everyone.

The Guilford County Planning Board will hold its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, August 12 at 6 p.m. to hear a host of rezoning cases that would allow for more land in the county to be put to a “higher” use.

A lot of Guilford County business has been put on hold due to the state regulations implemented to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

Guilford County Commissioner Alan Branson got his foot stomped on by a 3,500-pound bull this week when he was trying to get the perfect photo for his reelection campaign in his county commissioners District 4 race.

COVID-19 has meant that a lot of people are getting paid despite a lack of work.

Guilford County government got a $93.7 million federal grant earlier this year to address COVID-19 fallout and to battle the spread of the disease, and now the Guilford County Board of Education has plans for $10 million of that total.

Just because there’s a deadly pandemic raging all around you doesn’t mean you can’t keep up with the latest in literature.

With the damage the coronavirus has done to small businesses, those businesses need all the help they can get.

If you’ve seen videos of airports in China and across the world where special cameras detect people with elevated temperatures and flag those individuals – well, that same service is likely coming to a Guilford County government building near you.

Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) is still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Will they or won’t they? That’s the question being faced by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners at the board’s Thursday, Aug. 6 meeting.

High Point is not becoming the next Hollywood, but it is getting some credibility as a place where film and television productions can thrive.  

On Tuesday, August 4, a home burglar gave the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department quite a bit of excitement.

Usually, when the Guilford County Board of Commissioners adopt a resolution honoring the life of someone, it’s a local person who has done noteworthy things.

The COVID-19 pandemic has cost Guilford County government a fortune.

It’s good to have friends in high places and, when it comes to the National Association of Counties (NACo) – the organization that helps guide, and advocates for, counties across the country – Guilford County has one of those friends.

Thomasville-based Old Dominion Freight Line announced on Monday, Aug. 3 the addition of nine service centers in new and existing markets. The move is in stark contrast to the conduct of many businesses that have been scaling back or even closing down during the coronavirus pandemic.

Guilford County government announced on Friday, July 31, that the county is ready to relaunch its small business assistance program, which is handing out COVID-19 relief money to area small businesses that are struggling due to the pandemic.

Everyone knows what happens to the best-laid plans of mice and men – especially during a coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday, July 29, the Nutrition Services Branch of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) announced that it will be participating once again in the United States Department of Agriculture’s Child and Adult Care Food Program.

It’s not unusual for Piedmont Triad International Airport to raise a lot of money with a charity run every year, but it is unusual for the airport to do it without actually holding the run.

At the start of the year, Guilford County and other area local governments put a great deal of importance on having everyone fill out the 2020 Census to make sure that local cities, the county and the state are represented fairly in Washington DC over the next decade.

Summerfield has town hall envy – and it now looks like the small town is going to do something about that by building a brand new one.

There have been a ton of government programs helping struggling families this year, and, on Friday, July 24, the state announced another one.

The number of people getting marriage licenses in Guilford County is down these days – because who wants to get married when your bridesmaids’ dresses have to be hazmat suits.

Many services operating out of the Guilford County Courthouse in Greensboro are now being suspended longer than initially anticipated.

The state of North Carolina hasn’t been doing a great job battling the spread of the coronavirus.

The Guilford County Register of Deeds office is having a good deal of success carrying on business during the coronavirus pandemic that’s brought so many county operations and area businesses to a screeching halt.