Author: Scott D. Yost

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners didn’t take long to name a new Guilford County manager after the resignation of former County Manager Marty Lawing on Thursday, Dec. 17. That same night, the board approved hiring former Guilford County Budget Director Michael Halford to be the next top administrative leader of the county.

Guilford County Manager Marty Lawing is resigning.  

On Thursday, Dec. 17, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners is expected to approve a new contract with Vincent Valuation, LLC – a contract that will hire the company to assist county tax staff with the coming countywide property revaluation for the tax year of 2022.

On Thursday, Dec.17, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners is expected to approve Greensboro’s own Samet Corporation as the “Construction Manager at Risk” firm hired to build the new Guilford County Sheriff’s Department headquarters.

Compared with November of last year, the number of people getting on and off of planes at PTIA was down 69 percent last month. As for the passenger traffic year-to-date number, which covers from January through the end of November of 2020, it was down 64 percent compared with 2019.

However, this year, in sad, sad 2020, the state of North Carolina is instead spreading COVID-19 tests throughout the state. NC health officials announced on Tuesday, Dec. 15 that the state is offering impressive 300-plus, no-cost, walk-up or drive through COVID-19 testing events over the next two weeks.

According to Guilford County Information Services Director Hemant Desai, a new program implemented by Guilford County to remotely detect elevated temperatures in visitors to county buildings is working well and should be expanded.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, buying food with government assistance no longer means having to actually go to a store to use those benefits.

Master Corp. Deputy Sheriff Norman Daye passed away on Saturday, Dec. 12 after being treated for coronavirus.

On Wednesday Dec. 9, the six Democrats on the Guilford County Board of Commissioners passed a new county ordinance that could lead to citizens being fined, businesses being shut down – and it could even lead to the imprisonment of violators.

The “new” Guilford County Board of Commissioners has only been in existence for less than a week but the commissioners are already planning big things by Christmas.

The Guilford Urban Farming Initiative – a Greensboro-based nonprofit focused on feeding the hungry, has been asked to partner with other groups in an effort to distribute over 1.3 million pounds of fresh produce to about 300,000 people across North Carolina in December this year.

The City of High Point now has a new playground that’s meant to be especially “inclusive” – that is, it’s meant to serve kids of all abilities.

Between Monday morning, Dec. 7 and Monday afternoon, Guilford County government underwent a seismic shift. That dramatic change in governance philosophy became crystal clear with the new Board of Commissioners’ very first non-procedural vote on Wednesday, Dec. 9 – and with the immediate reaction of former Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Jeff Phillips, who had some very harsh criticism for the new board.

Guilford County Emergency Services Director Jim Albright said this week that the long-lasting pandemic is taking a very big toll on his department.

On Wednesday, Dec. 9, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners adopted a broad new order that will impose fines and other penalties for violations of public health orders regarding mask wearing, business capacity limitations and other state and county public health directives meant to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

COVID-19 is many things – among other things, it’s a thief. This year, it stole the limelight from a large group of Register of Deeds workers.

It’s that time of year again and – pandemic or no pandemic – the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department is doing its part to create a Christmas atmosphere in the county – and, as is in keeping with the main theme of the season, providing help to those in need.

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners Monday, Dec. 7 meeting held to swear in new county commissioners had a dramatically different look and feel than all the other times that that meeting – or, really, party – has been held.

At the Monday morning, Dec. 7 meeting of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, the brand new board went back to an old well when it came to finding a chairman.

The Monday, Dec. 7 Guilford County Board of Commissioners meeting held to swear in new commissioners was just about as notable for the woman who wasn’t there as it was for the people who were.

Mary Beth Murphy, a school teacher who would most likely have been sworn in as Guilford County’s District 4 commissioner were it not for the election protest filed by District 4 Commissioner Alan Branson, wasn’t at the meeting where two of her fellow Democrats were sworn in to their seats as commissioners.

In a span of about five minutes time on Monday morning, Dec. 7, two new Guilford County commissioners were sworn in and Guilford County government underwent a seismic change. Democratic Commissioners Carly Cooke and James Upchurch took their recently won seats on the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, giving the board a Democratic majority for the first time since December 2012.

There are a lot of consequences flowing from District 4 Guilford County Commissioner Alan Branson’s decision to contest the election results.

Guilford County District 4 Republican Guilford County Commissioner Alan Branson, who has filed a second protest with the Guilford County Board of Elections over his apparent loss of that seat, may be a long shot when it comes to keeping the seat in the end.

The City of High Point is gearing up for its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program.

“I don’t care whose feet it steps on and I don’t care if they call me a Trumpster.” Those were the defiant words of Republican District 4 Guilford County Commissioner Alan Branson, who, with his attorney Chuck Winfree, has now filed a second protest over the District 4 commissioners’ race that had Branson’s Democratic opponent Mary Beth Murphy ahead by 70 votes after the general election votes were tallied.

Things are about to get a little easier for Medicaid recipients in the state of North Carolina.

It was just about a month ago that county voters approved a $300 million school bond referendum for the repair and construction of Guilford County schools.

Guilford County is holding a major, dead simple, COVID-19 testing event on Friday, Dec. 4 at a location everyone knows – the Greensboro Coliseum.

Brand new District 4 Guilford County Commissioner Mary Beth Murphy has a lot of input that she wants to give to the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, and, starting on Monday, Dec. 7, she’ll get that chance.

Lee Tillery, the director of the High Point Parks and Recreation Department, has been elected to serve as president of the NC Recreation and Park Association for 2021.

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department got a lot more excitement than it wished for on Monday, Nov. 30, when a 34-year-old, white female from Winston-Salem, identified as Jennifer Nicole Brown, allegedly went on an alarming robbery and shooting spree that left two Citgo stations disturbed and left one man shot.

In fact, this week the High Point Planning and Development Department is asking citizens for input, suggestions and questions regarding the department’s land use assessment of a 1.4-square-mile area along the Greensboro Road and Jamestown Bypass corridors from Montlieu Avenue in High Point to the Jamestown town limits at the Deep River.

December pre-Christmastime get-togethers are supposed to be filled with cheer, but a Thursday, Dec. 3 meeting of the Guilford County Economic Development Alliance will no doubt be bittersweet for the group: a little bitter because the Leadership Group of the Alliance will be losing three key members, but also sweet because those empty slots will be filled with new talent.

People may love a parade, but, based on statewide voter results in the November general election this year, there’s one thing that North Carolina voters don’t like very much right now: a quarter-cent sales tax hike.

On Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017 the Board of Commissioners voted to put off a decision for “60 to 90 days” on whether or not to approve a financial package that would help High Point pay for its then unbuilt $30-million plus baseball stadium in downtown High Point.

On Wednesday, Dec. 9, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners plans to hold a special meeting at which the board will put into effect a countywide set of fines for businesses in when those businesses don’t enforce a coming set of mask requirements.

The great Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020 killed a lot of plans for a lot of people and those who support and work for the International Civil Rights Center and Museum in downtown Greensboro know that as well as anyone.

On Wednesday, Nov. 25, while many were doing their last bit of work and packing before traveling, state of North Carolina health officials did their part to dampen any holiday cheer. At 4:12 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 25 the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) put out its new hospitalization and death numbers for the coronavirus.

It came as a surprise to many people that the Democrats took control of the nine-member Guilford County Board of Commissioners in the Tuesday, Nov. 3 election, but this week Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Jeff Phillips offered his view as to why it happened.

Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) Executive Director Kevin Baker has had to guide the airport through its toughest year ever. However, the holiday season is helping the airport look more like the pre-pandemic PTIA.

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners has already started showing a little Christmas spirit even though Christmas is still a month away and there’s a pandemic going on.

In honor of Thanksgiving, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department was doing a good deed to create some holiday cheer this week. Rather than playing grinches by pulling over drivers and telling them how fast they were going, they were handing out meals.

COVID-19 is a major party crasher and the disease and related pandemic is all but destroying one of the nicest and most solemn events the county holds once every other year.

Not much happens businesswise over the Thanksgiving holidays – and even less happens on the Thanksgiving holidays during a pandemic. That rule apparently applies to elections disputes as well, and, heading into the four-day weekend, it was not clear when, or if, the NC State Board of Elections would hear the challenge to the results of the Tuesday, Nov. 3 election brought by District 4 Guilford County Commissioner Alan Branson.

The Republican-led Guilford County Board of Commissioners has been around for so long that it’s sometimes hard to remember what county government looked like before 2012, when the Republicans took over control of the board from the Democrats.

The Tuesday, Nov. 3 election is all but over, but many states, counties and municipalities are facing criticism from President Donald Trump and his legal team for what they say are major problems with Dominion Voting Systems election software.

If you’re someone who likes to go on long walks or bike rides to enjoy nature, the City of High Point wants to talk to you. On Tuesday, Nov. 24, the city announced that High Point will be hosting two interactive virtual public workshops to collect feedback for the proposed greenway network.

Guilford County government is likely to follow the lead of the City of Greensboro and other local governments across the state in implementing fines for bars, restaurants and other businesses for not enforcing mask-wearing rules or for failure to follow other COVID-19 compliance rules.

The holiday season is a time to get together with friends and family and – well, it used to be anyway … Now, it’s a time to stay home alone in quarantine, and, while that aspect of the season has certainly changed, some things about the holiday season remain the same.