Author: Scott D. Yost

Former Guilford County Commissioner Joe Wood – a strongly opinionated Democrat who served on the Board of Commissioners in the early ‘90s – has passed away.

The classic ‘80s dance hit warns that there’s “no parking on the dance floor,” but, on Thursday, Feb. 28, Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) began a project that, from now until the end of May, will result in no parking in parts of the airport parking deck.

On Monday, Feb. 25, Guilford County Commissioner Hank Henning nearly gave the county manager, the county attorney and the county elections director a simultaneous heart attack with a single question.

Guilford County is a very fine county but it became clear at the Guilford County Board of Commissioners annual retreat that the county is suffering from a bad case of tier-envy. 

State Rep. Jon Hardister has filed a bill that, if passed into law, will make the Guilford County Board of Education elections the way they used to be – nonpartisan. 

At the Monday, Feb. 25 Guilford County Board of Commissioners retreat, the board voted to approve a controversial construction contract for a $14-million Emergency Services vehicle maintenance facility, but only after a heated exchange in which Democratic Commissioner Skip Alston raked county staff over the coals and then got into it with the Republican commissioners.

NC Governor Roy Cooper has appointed Jim Kimel, a former Guilford County district attorney who’s now a criminal defense attorney in Greensboro, as the chairman of the Guilford County Board of Elections. 

By 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 25, the first day of the two-day retreat, the board unanimously approved a motion to use a financing method known as “two-thirds bonds” to raise $40 million dollars for a host of coming county projects including a new mental health facility, a $10-million investment to enhance school system security, a new animal shelter and a new administrative headquarters for the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department.

The collective mental power of local and state officials went to the dogs this week when health officials, taproom owners, county staff and elected leaders held a Dog Summit in the Old Guilford County Court House to work out a way in which man’s best friend could be allowed inside taprooms when their owners want to enjoy a beer.

Last month, at a Thursday, Jan. 17 Guilford County Board of Commissioners meeting, Commissioner Skip Alston was furious that the county was about to enter into a $14-million construction contract that included zero percent black business participation – but he has now discovered that that was just the tip of the iceberg.

The war for the attention of baseball fans in the High Point area is heating up and, in that war between the storied Finch Field, home of the HiToms, and the shiny new BB&T Point stadium, home of the High Point Rockers, Finch Field just scored: It’s been selected to host the 2019 Junior Legion State Tournament from Thursday, July 18 to Tuesday, July 23. 

A stunning revelation that came out of Summerfield this week regarding a giant oversight by town officials now has a good number of that town’s leaders and citizens trying to piece together exactly how it happened. Some are angry about the mistake, while others think it’s funny – and others are simply shaking their heads.

On Friday evening, Feb. 22, Bennett College President Phyllis Dawkins held a press conference to announce that the college was suing the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges over that organization’s decision to revoke the school’s accreditation.

High Point gets 300 new jobs thanks to Aetna

NC Governor Roy Cooper announced in High Point on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 21, that Aetna Inc., which recently merged with CVS Health Corp., is bringing 300 new jobs to the city.

Some items are one size fits all but Cone Health system knows that doesn’t apply to health care outreach – which is why the giant health provider has been focusing hard these days on providing care to diverse population segments in its service area through targeted programs meant to address the specific needs of those communities.

Something big is coming to High Point but everyone will have to wait until lunchtime Thursday, Feb. 21 to find out what it is.

Grandover Resort was the place to have breakfast on Tuesday, Feb. 19 if you had anything at all to do with economic development in this region.

Events in Summerfield took an astonishing turn that left town’s people buzzing on Monday, Feb. 18.  

How’s this for encouraging people to buy a “Catalyst Club” season ticket to the High Point Rockers baseball games: Unlike the rest of the crowd, who will have to get by on mere beer and wine, Catalyst Club members will be allowed to buy mixed drinks at the games.

Guilford County’s top dog catcher, Animal Control Supervisor Lisa Lee, left that job on Sunday, Feb. 17, but she hasn’t gone far at all: On Monday, Feb. 18  Lee – who began heading up Animal Control in June 2017– started her new job as the community engagement manager for Guilford County’s Animal Services. 

Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) just got some good news and some bad news.

The good news: In early April, United Airlines is adding new non-stop service to Houston.

The bad?  It’s likely only for a week.

And the winners are…

Well, winnersmight not be the precise term, but four lucky candidates have indeed been named to the brand new Guilford County Board of Elections – and county election officials think they know who the fifth and final member will be.

When you are the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners looking for a place to hold your annual retreat, where do you have it? 

Why, Guilford County of course.

It’s nothing new for there to be a ruckus in Summerfield these days and this week the uproar there is about NC General Statute 1-521, which states that, when a “quo warranto” action is used to try and knock a town council member or city council member out of a seat, “It is unlawful to appropriate any public funds to the payment of counsel fees in any such action.”

When it comes to hiring government help, five grand isn’t a lot of money; however, animal welfare advocates in Guilford County are hoping that a new $5,000 grant will go a very long way toward the goal of helping dogs, cats and other animals at the Guilford County Animal Shelter find a loving home.

Guilford County dogs have been told to “stay.”

Specifically, they haven’t been orderedto stay; they have only been told to stay if they wish to stay, at Joymongers Brewing Company, that is.

They say the early bird gets the worm and High Point’s Bruce Davis is hoping the early declarer gets the mayor’s job.

On Tuesday, Feb. 12, Davis became the first candidate to throw his hat in the 2019 ring for the seat currently occupied by High Point Mayor Jay Wagner, who everyone expects to declare his intent to run for reelection later this year.

Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers didn’t waste much time replacing former Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Edward Melvin who turned in his letter of resignation on Tuesday, Feb. 12, for “personal reasons.” 

On Thursday, Feb. 12, Superior Court Judge David Hall, issued a stay in the lawsuit brought by former Summerfield Town Councilmember Todd Rotruck against sitting Town Councilmember Dianne Laughlin – who occupies the seat Rotruck was elected to in November 2017.

Guilford County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Edward Melvin, who was just named to that position by Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers about two months ago, is turning in his resignation.

The Guilford County commissioners have had a hard time finding a good place to hold their annual retreat this year but they’ve finally landed on one: the new NOAH’S Event Venue in High Point at 4130 Mendenhall Oaks Parkway.

The latest chapter in the ongoing battle between former Summerfield Town Councilmember Todd Rotruck and the Town of Summerfield unfolded on Monday, Feb. 11 in courtroom 3-G of the Guilford County Courthouse in Greensboro. 

Guilford County doesn’t have good luck with its parking decks and that bad luck continued this week when the Guilford County commissioners were informed that the county-owned underground parking deck beneath the Phill G. McDonald Plaza in downtown Greensboro is in need of an estimated $9 million in repairs.

President Donald Trump just delivered his annual State of the Union assessment and now the Guilford County Health Division of the county’s Department of Health and Human Services has released its also once a year “State of the County’s Health Report.” 

Absolutely perfect.

That’s how the North Carolina Institute for Public Health (NCIPH) rated the Health Division of the Guilford County Health and Human Services Department in its 2019 accreditation evaluation. 

With the economy roaring and the unemployment rate near an all time low, the Guilford County Workforce Development Board has the difficult job of helping keep the county’s businesses supplied with a stream of skilled workers to feed the demand.  The organization has just made two moves intended to further that effort.

Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers is making a plea for what he says is a dire need for the county to raise the pay of the men and women serving in the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department. 

Supporters of a proposed Cure Violence program in Greensboro offered a passionate and unified message at the Guilford County Board of Commissioners meeting Thursday, Feb. 7.

At the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, Thursday, Feb. 7 meeting, Aydin Lyrik, a self-employed Greensboro resident, told the nine commissioners – and the audience in the meeting room and watching on TV – that he underwent a harrowing experience last August in which he was shackled naked in the Guilford County jail in Greensboro for hours, called the N-word and mistreated after being arrested on a drunken and disorderly charge.

They say there’s no harm in asking and that’s exactly what the Guilford County Board of Commissioners did in a very big way at their Thursday, Feb. 7 meeting: asked the State of North Carolina for $10 million so the state could foot half the cost of constructing a new adult care mental health facility on Third Street in Maple Professional Park in Greensboro.

The North Carolina Folk Festival in downtown Greensboro looks like it may be getting some much appreciated state help.

On Thursday, Feb. 7, NC Rep. Jon Hardister filed a bill – called simply the NC Folk Festival Funds bill – that would provide a $100,000 state grant for the festival that’s held in Greensboro.  State Reps. John Faircloth, Pricey Harrison and Amos Quick joined Hardister as primary sponsors of the bill.

At a Thursday afternoon, Feb. 7 work session of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, county staff told the commissioners that the clock was ticking and they needed to go for it – make a big play, that is – but the board, in spite of that advice, decided to drop back and punt.

The Guilford County Family Justice Center is best known for helping victims in cases of physical violence within marriages, relationships or families; however, this spring, the justice center will offer a program meant largely to help the county’s elderly keep from getting swindled out of their money.

One thing county officials in North Carolina hate more than anything is “unfunded mandates” – and boy is Guilford County being hit with a whopper of one this year.

Pick a number.

Pick one between 0 and 57 million.

It hasn’t received much publicity but the 100 counties in North Carolina including Guilford County have not had boards of elections since the courts declared the old North Carolina Board of Election unconstitutional in December. 

No one enjoys getting bills in the mail no matter what the size, but when a bill shows up asking for payment of $1.5 billion, it raises the consternation to a new level.

Guilford County no longer has a Board of Elections and, when it gets one back – whenever that is – it will look different than it did before, perhaps radically different.

High Point University is stepping in and attempting to play the same role the US Cavalry played in old westerns:  Save someone just in the nick of time. 

There wasn’t a whole lot of good news presented by a consulting group hired to assess the needs of the Guilford County school system, but one thing school officials apparently do not have to worry about is an increasing student population in the coming years.