Author: Scott D. Yost

February is Black History Month but, really, when it comes to the International Civil Rights Center & Museum, every month is black history month, and this June is certainly no exception: The museum has just released its June lineup of events and it has something for everyone whether they’re interested in the history of civil rights or they’re just looking to have a fun time with a night of dancing.

Guilford County emergency management officials want you to help tell them how they can do better when there’s a flood, hurricane, hazardous waste spill – or any other natural or man-made disaster that puts county residents at risk.

Guilford County Health Director Merle Green had some bad news recently for the Guilford County Board of Commissioners: the Health Department has a big backlog of well and water system inspections, and it won’t be able to catch up and keep pace unless new inspector positions are added.  In fact, she said, even then the Health Department won’t be able to completely keep pace with demand.

In the face of a new state law meant to promote speedier building inspections, the Guilford County Planning Department wants to make sure that it has enough inspectors to fill that demand so that the work doesn’t go to state inspectors – who often don’t have a relationship with the local developers like county inspectors do.

If you are a Guilford County department head who needs something, now is the time to ask for it since the Guilford County Board of Commissioners will soon adopt a budget for the coming 2019-2020 fiscal year that begins on July 1. And Guilford County Emergency Services Director Jim Albright said this week that Emergency Services is badly understaffed and needs more manpower in a bad way.

A photograph from the Summerfield Founder’s Day Parade celebration has caused quite a bit of discussion in Summerfield, on social media and among others in the county who are interested in local politics.  The photo from that day shows Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers and former Sheriff BJ Barnes – who have been in a bitter public battle with each other for over a year – shaking hands in a amicable way.

A report that the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department was required to send to the State of North Carolina after an inmate hung himself in the county’s jail in High Point has provided new details regarding the death. 

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department was grieving this week over the deaths of two former officers who were considered real treasures by those who worked with them.

On Thursday, May 30, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners were hard at work at the most important thing they do every year – forming the county’s $600-million plus budget.

On Thursday afternoon, May 30, three prominent Summerfield citizens – Dwayne Crawford, Don Wendelken and Danny Nelson – filed a lawsuit against the Town of Summerfield to force it to cease paying legal fees for the defense of Town Councilmember Dianne Laughlin in a “quo warranto” case brought by former Summerfield Town Councilmember Todd Rotruck. 

Another step just took place in the slow as molasses battle between Guilford County and former Summerfield Town Councilmember Todd Rotruck, who is fighting to regain that Town Council seat he lost two years ago.  The Guilford County Board of Elections has filed its response with the NC Court of Appeals in the case.

Greensboro may have missed out on hosting the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament in recent years but there’s a great deal of excitement about a nationally televised summer basketball tournament that will include a regional in Greensboro this year and will feature some spectacular basketball talent on the team representing this area.

Nothing is more important these days than improving school safety and, on Wednesday morning, May 29, Phoenix Academy – a High Point charter school with three campuses – showed off a new system meant to greatly enhance safety. 

The City of High Point is getting a new project that could bring 1,600 jobs and further enhance the city’s reputation as a place for biotech companies to locate.  

On Tuesday, May 28, Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) released new passenger stats and other data that showed a very positive continuing trend: An impressive rise in the number of people traveling to and from PTIA. The same set of numbers also showed extremely impressive growth in cargo flights in and out of the airport.

The United Way of Greater Greensboro is hoping that for at least one day in June – Friday, June 21 to be exact – area residents will stop thinking about themselves and start thinking about helping others.

Speeders beware – the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department is using money from its Federal Forfeiture Fund to create a new special traffic unit. 

Guilford County Commissioner Carlvena Foster just made it official:  She’s throwing her hat in the ring to be the next mayor of High Point.

In an effort to help fill the demand for available jobs in the region, Guilford Technical Community College (GTCC) is starting a new program: a truck driving school.

For years, area elected officials and other community leaders have preached about the importance of economic development in Guilford County and the need for a lot more of it – and, now, on Thursday, June 27, there will be a “Guilford County Economic Development Summit” that will be a joint meeting of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, the Greensboro City Council, the High Point City Council, economic development officials, area business leaders and more.

On Thursday, May 23, Sebastian King announced that he is forming an exploratory campaign initiative for the NC Senate District 27 seat.

An inmate at the Guilford County jail in High Point is dead by hanging in an apparent suicide.  Joseph William Martin was pronounced dead at approximately 11 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21 at Moses Cone Hospital after being discovered hanging in his cell this weekend.

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners wants you.Specifically, the board wants you to tell it what you think of the 2019-2020 budget proposed by Guilford County Manager Marty Lawing. To get that input, the board has scheduled not one but two public hearings for Thursday, June 6.

The major collaborative effort to co-brand four megasites in central North Carolina – two of those in Guilford County – and bring more jobs and economic development to the region, took another step forward on Tuesday, May 22, when partners in the “Carolina Core” initiative hosted a delegation of the state’s top-ranking economic development officials for the day.

In recent months, there have been a lot of questions in the local immigrant community and on social media as to exactly what position the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department holds on immigration issues. 

Guilford County, which has been under fire in recent months for a lack of minority participation in its construction and service contracts, has just hired a new purchasing director who’ll now become one of a very few female African-American directors in Guilford County government. 

Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) and the region around it woke up to some very good news on Monday morning, May 20: HondaJet – a division of Honda Aircraft Company – announced plans for a $15.5-million expansion at the company’s global headquarters at PTIA. 

For about two years, Guilford County and three towns in the county’s northwest – Oak Ridge, Summerfield and Stokesdale – have been in talks to create a unified and expansive water system that would cover the water needs of much of that part of the county.

The event in downtown Greensboro on Saturday, May 18 was called a “Blues Festival,” but, from the looks of it, no one who attended was blue.

On Tuesday, May 14, the Summerfield Town Council extended the severance package of Town Manager Scott Whitaker from six months to a year in case he’s terminated without cause. 

On Thursday, May 16, Guilford County Manager Marty Lawing handed over his budget proposal for fiscal 2019-2020, and one part of that budget calls for the county to spend $765,000 in taxpayer money on area economic development efforts. 

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department had a harrowing ordeal in Summerfield on Thursday night when a fake hostage situation ended with an accused felon shooting himself in a shed.

If something seems too good to be true, it usually is and on Thursday, May 16, the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team found out that they were not, after all, a miracle team of destiny hand-picked by God to win the 2019 Stanley Cup. 

Everyone loves a parade, but the people in Summerfield really love their Founder’s Day Parade.  And they’re looking forward to a lot of sights and sounds and excitement on Saturday, May 18 at 10 a.m. when things get underway in Summerfield – a small town with a big parade each and every year. 

On Thursday, May 16, Guilford County Manager Marty Lawing presented the Guilford County Board of Commissioners with his proposed 2019-2020 budget totaling $627,418,000.

On Tuesday, May 14, the Summerfield Town Council met and Summerfield Mayor Gail Dunham was clearly displeased with one move made toward the end of the meeting – a vote to amend Summerfield Town Manager Scott Whitaker’s contract to increase the severance pay he gets from six months to a year, and to do the same with his benefits.

Do you want to weigh in on noise around the airport and do so in an official capacity?  Well, now’s your chance.

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department is requesting that Guilford County expand a program established to help former inmates and prisoners reenter society and become law-abiding, productive members of it.  

Guilford County is about to get it’s first nationally recognized Child Trauma Recovery Center, a place where kids can get treatment, counseling and other help needed to deal with traumatic experiences.  That can be anything from bullying or experiencing natural disasters, to physical or sexual abuse, to the loss of a parent or sibling.

Well, they haven’t fallen completely yet – but the Carolina Hurricanes Hockey team, which just last week looked utterly invincible, is now on the opposite end of the spectrum. 

Everyone knows it’s April showers that bring May flowers but it’s likely to be economic growth that is now bringing expansion requests from area landfills. 

Former High Point Mayor Bill Bencini said this week that the success of the last two years in his city has brought a new energy and vitality to High Point, and he added that he and others have been stunned at the speed and effectiveness of recent economic development efforts.

Former Guilford County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Edward Melvin, who was recently willing to speak on many matters related to his two months with the department when contacted by the Rhino Times, didn’t wish to comment publicly on his resignation or the reasons behind it – however, the timing of the decision and other sources in the department shed some light on that decision. 

Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers and former Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Edward Melvin may have served side by side during Rogers’ first two months as sheriff, but on many things the two don’t see eye to eye. That fact is now crystal clear after Melvin, who resigned suddenly earlier in February after serving just over two months under Rogers, agreed to speak with the Rhino Times regarding a number of key issues that have been the subject of a great deal of public debate in recent months.

It’s either a sign of fantastic governance or an alarm bell – take your pick – but the fact is this:  The Piedmont Triad Airport Authority is always in complete agreement on every issue that comes before it. 

A Greensboro educator got a big honor this week: Dr. Ward Ulmer, who’s been a teacher for the past two decades and has lived in Greensboro for the past 15 years, has been named the new president of Walden University.

This week the NC House of Representatives voted unanimously in favor of a bill that would designate the battleship the USS North Carolina as the official battleship of the state of North Carolina.

On Friday, May 10, there was a lot of discussion going on behind the scenes between Republican Guilford County commissioners on one pressing question: Should they or shouldn’t they?

Former City of Greensboro Attorney Tom Carruthers has a new job in local government: Carruthers, who resigned from the city attorney position with Greensboro in the fall of 2018, has now taken a job working as an assistant county attorney for Guilford County government.

It’s official: Former Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes is running for mayor of Summerfield – a town that’s been in the midst of a highly divisive political war for the past two years.