Author: Scott D. Yost

If you’ve flown out of Piedmont Triad International Airport lately, you probably paid a little more for your ticket than you would have if you had flown out of Raleigh or Charlotte, but you probably also know the secret of PTI: It’s just easy.

It’s simple, rarely crowded, and though they raised the price of parking not that long ago, the cost is still reasonable….

President Donald Trump has a lot of big plans for the country and, as the song “New York, New York” goes, he wants to do it his way.

 However, when it comes to the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia – the El Salvadoran man that the Trump administration mistakenly sent to a notoriously brutal prison in that country – a federal court of appeals has put an end to Trump doing it his way, at least for now.

A lower court recently ordered Trump’s Department of Justice to take action to help bring Garcia back to America so he can receive the due legal process he has so far been denied,,,

Wednesday, May 7, 2025.

That’s the deadline to get your REAL ID if you want to fly hassle-free – and they really, really mean it this time. 

The REAL ID is a type of ID that confirms your identity and lawful presence in the US, and it’s something you may need in order to fly after the seventh day of May. And to do other things as well.

 One big problem, of course, is that May is right around the corner and, if you’ve visited the DMV website to make an appointment to get your REAL ID, you will almost always see the following…

On Thursday, April 17, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners will adopt a resolution honoring the life and legacy of Reverend Dr. Nelson Napoleon Johnson, a major figure in Greensboro known for his efforts in the struggle for social justice and civil rights.

The resolution, which will be read by Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners  Skip Alston, celebrates the life of a man whose faith and determination had a transformational impact on Guilford County and the city of Greensboro….

A medical biotech company that not all that long ago was promising to bring a giant production facility and hundreds of new jobs to Greensboro abandoned those plans and, this week, ProKidney stock – which was selling at $13 a share in August of 2023 – closed on Tuesday, April 15, at under a dollar a share, 71 cents a share to be exact.

The spectacular fall of the stock price is indicative of what happened to the once huge project plan that had Greensboro leaders very excited and had the city…

Though the Guilford County voters have, time after time, voted down a quarter-cent sales tax increase, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners has refused to take no for an answer and they plan to put the measure on the ballot again when countywide elections resume in early 2026. 

And the sales pitch for the sales tax hike has already begun….

Property owners in the county – who are already paying out the nose for their tax bills after the 2022 revaluation – can breathe a sigh of relief about one thing: The Guilford County Board of Commissioners will not increase the property tax rate in the coming 2025-2026 fiscal county budget, which will be adopted in June and go into effect on July 1 of this year.

However, and this is a very big however, while there will be no tax increase in the coming budget, everyone should expect to see another major increase in their tax bills next year when the 2026-2027…

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office and other area law enforcement agencies are looking for Xavier Scott Williams, who sheriff’s officials say is “linked” to a recent major drug seizure in Greensboro – something this area has seen a lot of in the first part of 2025.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, during a narcotics investigation, a traffic stop led to the execution of a search warrant at 1600 Sir Galahad Road in Greensboro on Wednesday, April 9. That road is just north of Huffine Mill Road near where Huffine Mill joins with Phillips Avenue in Greensboro….

The US – specifically the state of North Carolina – may possess the ultimate secret weapon in the new trade war with China that’s currently raging at unprecedented levels.  While everyone looks to Taiwan as the center of modern computer chip manufacturing, a very little-known fact is that, if it weren’t for the town of Spruce Pine, North Carolina, none of that multi-trillion-dollar industry would be possible…

The world and the Triad area can certainly use some extra prayers right now, so it’s a good thing that Mercy Hill Church in Greensboro – one of the fastest growing churches in the country – is opening a new campus.

The church held a ribbon cutting this week to celebrate the opening of the campus at 1317 Pleasant Ridge Road…

Guilford County commissioners and residents won’t see County Manager Mike Halford’s proposed...

Integrated Power Services  –  a global company in electrical, mechanical, and power management systems – has officially opened a new business development center in Greensboro.

The new office is located at 1050 Revolution Mill Road.

The Greensboro center will act as an extension of Integrated Power Services corporate headquarters in Greenville, South Carolina, and will primarily focus on sales…

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners met in an afternoon budget work session on Thursday, April 3, to work with County Manager Mike Halford in assembling a new fiscal 2025-2026 budget for the county. 

While they did so, the US stock market was crashing and the economic implications of President Donald Trump’s striking tariff policy were becoming clear to the entire world.

Putting together a giant county budget that last year was north of $830 million…

The Guilford County commissioners have been holding a series of town halls to get information from residents as to what the county is doing right and doing wrong.  Now it’s time for the Greensboro City Council to do the same – so, if you have complaints about city taxes or the way the city is handling things – or if you just want to tell them what a great job they’re doing – well, now is your chance…

The new economic development projects keep coming and coming to Guilford County. 

Now, OpSun Systems – a solar infrastructure company headquartered in Quebec – has announced plans for a $17 million expansion at its existing facility in High Point – a move that could bring 32 new jobs to Guilford County by the end of 2029.

The company, which specializes in advanced mounting systems for commercial and industrial solar panels, is supposedly evaluating several locations across the United States for the project, with its site at 772 Gallimore Dairy Road in High Point among the leading candidates.

On Monday, April 7, President Donald Trump and his administration petitioned the US Supreme Court to overturn a lower court order that demands the US government bring back a man who was mistakenly sent to a Salvadorian prison.

A judge gave the Trump administration until midnight on April 7 to return Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a native of El Salvador, to the US.

Trump and members of his administration have stated repeatedly that they believe Garcia is a violent gang member and, they claim, that gives them the right to put him on a military plane and imprison him – without any due process – in a hellscape prison in a foreign country to be kept indefinitely.

As outbreaks of measles are popping up all around the country, the Guilford County Division of Public Health is “strongly urging” parents to get their children— from those in kindergarten to high school— vaccinated for measles, as well as mumps and rubella.

The county issued a public statement on the matter on Thursday, April 3.

This is one time in life when everyone should hope that President Donald Trump is the genius ten-dimensional chess player that MAGA fans think he is and not the ignorant fool many of his opponents believe him to be. 

If he is playing a game of 10-D chess in the implementation of massive worldwide tariffs this week, it hasn’t been a very fun game so far for stockholders around the world.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average started drifting down after Trump took office on Monday, Jan. 20, and then, on Wednesday, April 3, after a brutal trading day, the average was down nearly another 1,700 – the largest one-day plummet since the sell-off when COVID-19 hit in early 2020…

Greensboro Parks and Recreation is inviting area dog owners to bring their canine friends to the “Fetch: Dog Egg Hunt” on Saturday, April 12, at Griffin Dog Park. The event, which is being held from 9 a.m. to noon at 5301 Hilltop Road in Greensboro, will feature a costume contest, a treat-filled egg hunt, as well as activities for both pets and their owners.

Given the price of eggs in recent times, it is generous of the city to put on this event, though these no doubt will not be real eggs.  And, even if they were, no one would want to eat eggs that had been left out in the grass and retrieved by a dog…

The Greensboro City Attorney’s Office has a new and familiar face on staff: Judge Lora Cubbage has joined the City of Greensboro as a deputy city attorney.  Cubbage is well known in the local – as well as the state’s – legal community.

In a public statement this week, Cubbage said she’s really excited about her new role.

“Joining the Greensboro City Attorney’s Office affords me an opportunity to learn a whole new area of law,” she said. “I am eager to bridge the gap between law enforcement and the community by fostering transparency in city governance and municipal law.”…

April is National County Government Month and Guilford County government is using the occasion to remind residents of the scope and number of services the county provides. A press release sent out by the county on Tuesday, April 1 noted a multitude of accomplishments in 2024.

The county does provide some valuable services; however, the release didn’t remind people that those services come at quite a cost: the county’s budget has grown by hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years, since providing all these services comes at a high price…

Summerfield media mogul Don Wendelken gave a lot of Summerfield residents quite a scare when they woke up on April 1 and saw his news story that read,

“On Tuesday, April 1, 2025, NC will vote to remove Summerfield’s Charter. NC House Bill 1313 (HB1313) will be debated and passed on to the Senate for a final vote. The bill appeared out of nowhere and has caught the attention of many in Guilford County.”

While it was an April Fool’s Day joke, the truly funny thing about the story – and the reason it caused a lot of hearts in that town to skip a beat – is that it is so utterly believable given the intense drama that has been coming out of that small town of 11,000 people in recent years…

According to a new poll conducted by Elon University, North Carolinians don’t favor the elimination of, or major cutbacks at, the more than one dozen federal agencies now being targeted for reduction by President Donald Trump and the new Department of Government Efficiency – an effort being led by multi-billionaire Elon Musk. (No relation.)

The survey, which was conducted in early March, looked at opinions from a representative sample of 800 North Carolina adults. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4%.

When participants were asked about funding for 14 specific federal agencies, a plurality of North Carolinians said they favor only minor reductions or no change at all for them…

It’s that time of year again, the time when Greensboro residents are being asked to lend a helping hand and spruce up the city.

Greensboro Beautiful Inc. is joining Keep Winston-Salem Beautiful and Keep High Point Beautiful in an effort to clean up the Triad, and the leaders of those cities are now encouraging everyone to participate in The Greatest American Cleanup, which will take place on Saturday, April 5.

In Greensboro, one lucky boulevard is getting some extra love and care: An event will be led by Greensboro Beautiful volunteers at Levette Field in Nocho Park to clean up Gate City Boulevard.  Those who can help should come to the park at 1010 Duke St, from 10 a.m. to noon….

The Women, Infants, and Children Program – better known as “WIC” – which is provided by the Guilford County Division of Public Health, announced on Monday, March 31 that the county will begin providing mobile and digital offerings in its attempt to give more support toward the health and nutrition of local low-income families.

The WIC Program – which provides healthy foods and nutrition education to pregnant women – also offers counseling and breastfeeding education, and it links those who need help to other health and community resources.   

In addition to working with women before they give birth, WIC also offers services that keep the baby and the family healthy after a child is born…

The world lost a lifelong dedicated civil servant this week with the passing of the prominent and highly active Republican Linda Shaw, who served as the commissioner for District 3 in Guilford County for 16 years and served the community in so many other ways as well.

Shaw was the widow of former Guilford County commissioner and state senator Bob Shaw, who died in April 2012.

Years later, she gave a great deal of love to a puppy she adopted, one that constantly delighted her.  She often texted out pictures of her dog to her friends and family…

There were a lot of anxious people on Sunday, March 16, right before the NCAA Men’s Basketball Selection Committee announced which teams would be included in the NCAA Tournament this year – but none were more anxious or worried than the players for, and fans of, the North Carolina Tar Heel basketball team. 

The common wisdom before a game against Duke last week was that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill team would have to beat the Blue Devils in the ACC Tournament in Charlotte in order to make it into the field of contenders, and, as everyone knows by now, UNC lost that game in the final seconds in one of the most bizarre ways anyone has ever lost a basketball game…

Starting on Monday, March 31, the High Point Transit Service will launch a program called “HPTSGo!” – a pilot microtransit service meant to offer increased transit access to areas along North Main Street that are outside the reach of existing fixed-route services…

The pilot program will start with a shared-ride service that will transport riders for $2.50 for a one-way trip. That’s a lot cheaper than an Uber would cost no matter how far you were going…

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners normally just holds one retreat a year; however, in 2025 they thought two two-day retreats would be twice the fun and the board has scheduled their second retreat in the county’s second largest city.

Unlike a usual business meeting – which the commissioners usually hold on the first and third Thursday of each month – the all-day retreats allow the commissioners to get together with key county staff and take an in-depth look as to where the county stands, do some long-term planning and decide key goals for the coming fiscal year…

Each year, Guilford County uses public shaming as one of its tools to get people to pay the property taxes they owe and this year is no exception.

The release of the list each year gives everyone who wants to wade through it a chance to see who did not pay their property taxes on time, which means that, therefore, the county officially has a lien on that property until the bills are paid in full with interest.  On Friday, March 14, the county put out the new list of those who haven’t paid their tax bill…

The City of Greensboro is once again encouraging all residents and business owners to turn off their nonessential lights at night in order to help migrating birds safely navigate through the area. The city’s ongoing partnership with the T. Gilbert Pearson Audubon Society has brought back the “Lights Out for Birds” program for 2025.

 It’s a voluntary initiative that’s aimed at reducing bird fatalities as well as conserving energy.

Bird collisions with glass windows are a serious issue – with the National Audubon Society estimating that more than a billion birds die this way in the US every year. The accidents are believed to be a major factor in the 29 percent decline of North American bird populations since 1970…

Former Summerfield Town Manager Scott Whitaker and former Finance Director Dee Hall have lawyered up and appear ready to take legal action in response to what they claim are false allegations made against them by former North Carolina State Auditor Beth Wood and some members of the Summerfield Town Council.

The two, who were the subject of an inquiry into alleged financial discrepancies within the town government, have now issued legal warnings to several officials ­– signaling potential defamation lawsuits…

There’s a lot of negativity in the air these days when it comes to government at both the local and federal level. That’s been especially true for the Town of Summerfield in recent years; however, on Tuesday, March 11, the Summerfield Town Council and everyone at the council meeting shared a very nice moment in honor of a hometown boy who has become a highly praised figure now well known in first responder circles across the state of North Carolina.

At the Tuesday night meeting, Summerfield Fire District Chief Chris Johnson was formally recognized by the council for being named the 2025 North Carolina Fire Chief of the Year by the North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs…

A few years ago, the Guilford County Parks Department got caught off guard by not being able to find enough lifeguards to hire, and that meant some pools opened late.  Since then, they have started looking early in the year for lifeguards and other workers to help operate the parks during the very active months of summer.

So, even though it is just mid-March right now, Guilford County Parks is gearing up for the busy season by attempting to fill part-time positions at its parks across the county…

The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) is urging state lawmakers to rethink a series of proposed property tax exemption bills that could significantly reduce county revenues if passed.  

Many county commissioners and administrators fear that the state bills offering taxpayer relief could end up putting a real financial strain on counties – which rely heavily on property taxes to fund their budgets.

In a letter addressed to all members of the North Carolina General Assembly, the association outlined the potential financial repercussions of the measures, calling them “unfunded mandates” that could force counties either to raise property tax rates on non-exempted property owners or cut out essential public services….

fire at Eastern Guilford High School on Monday afternoon, March 10 could have turned out to be a lot worse, but a School Resource Officer and firefighters managed to get the blaze under control before it spread to the rest of the school.

The incident is now under investigation, according to the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office.

Many county residents will recall that, on Nov. 1, 2006, Eastern Guilford High burned to the ground in what was determined to be a case of arson.  No one was ever charged with that crime two decades ago; however, one former employee of the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office told the Rhino Times years ago that law enforcement officials believed they had a pretty good idea of who committed that crime…

On Tuesday, March 11, a report from the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office revealed that on Monday, March 10,  just after 3:40 a.m., an inmate who had been held in the county jail in downtown High Point died as a result of an in-custody suicide attempt six days before ultimately succumbing.

Justin Chambers passed away at High Point Medical Center at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Hospital due to complications from his suicide attempt in which he tried to hang himself at the Guilford County Detention Center in High Point on Tuesday, March 4….

The City of Greensboro is kicking off a “Spring Expungement Series” on Thursday, March 20 and, for those who make it past the first stage, on Thursday, April 24.

Additional similar programs are being planned for the summer and fall of 2025.

The City’s Human Rights and Parks and Recreation departments will be hosting the first of the three scheduled Thrive GSO Expungement Education Series for Greensboro’s “justice-impacted” residents March 20 and April 24.

The programs will begin at 6 p.m. at the Lindley Community Recreation Center at 2907 Springwood Dr. in Greensboro….

At a time when many federal politicians are staying as far away as they can from town hall meetings, the Guilford County commissioners are perfectly happy to face their constituents and hear what those voters have to say – whether it’s good or bad.

Now that the 2025-2026 Guilford County fiscal budget process is well underway – a new budget will be adopted in June – the commissioners are holding a series of budget town halls as well as events where people can learn about available county services.

Area residents have three chances to learn about existing county programs, hear what’s going on with the process of forming the upcoming budget, and share feedback on budget priorities and other issues with the commissioners…

On Friday, March 7, the Rhino Times published an article expressing amazement at the vast amount of cocaine that had been seized by law enforcement authorities in Greensboro and Guilford after three arrests in as many weeks had taken millions of dollars of cocaine off the streets.

Just hours after that article was published, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office announced that, in January 2025, deputies with the Sheriff’s Office’s VICE/Narcotics Unit – working alongside the Greensboro Police Department, the Eden Police Department, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) – had conducted a narcotics investigation that resulted in the seizure of 161 kilograms of cocaine…

Apparently, there’s a whole lot of cocaine in Guilford County these days.

A whole lot.

In the past few weeks, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office and the Greensboro Police Department have had three huge busts and taken millions of dollars of cocaine off the market…

Last summer, the Rhino Times reported that the Greensboro City Council had accepted a $50,000 grant from the NC Department of Environmental Quality for a program that might be very alarming to privacy advocates. The Rhino reported that the city was installing artificial intelligence software and hardware on some of the city’s recycling trucks – which would use video monitoring, photography and very precise geo-location tags to find those people who are violating the city’s recycling rules.

On Thursday, March 6, 2025, the city announced that our new AI trash and recycling overlords will be getting in contact with those who violate the city’s recycling rules.

This new program is being funded through a Community Waste Reduction and Recycling grant from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and, according to city officials, “It aims to improve curbside recycling by identifying contamination and educating residents in real-time.”…

The 2023 Infant and Child Mortality Data from the North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force Report found a huge disparity in infant deaths in the state and that disparity is getting worse. The study revealed that, in 2023, Black infants died at rates three times higher than white infants.

The study also found that non-Hispanic Black and American Indian children have higher mortality rates compared to other racial and ethnic groups.

“When compared to other states, North Carolina had the 10th highest infant mortality rate in the country, highlighting the critical need for the Department of Health and Human Services efforts to ensure the health and well-being of children and families,” a statement from Health and Human Services noted this week after the results of the study were released….

When President Donald Trump met with the head of Taiwan Semiconductor on Monday, March 3 to announce a $100 billion investment in American chip factories in the next few years, the North Carolina furniture business wasn’t expected to be a topic of conversation; however, Trump made some remarks that day that, if accurate, should make a lot of people in High Point and other past furniture centers in North Carolina happy.

Taiwan Semiconductor’s business is likely to end up in Arizona, but the president took some time to speak about what he expects to see happen due to tariffs he’s already placed on Canada, Mexico and China – and the ones he intends to add to many other countries on April 2.,,, 

According to a new poll out of Elon University, Americans, for the most part, expect to see short-term economic pain due to the new US tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed on Canada, Mexico and China.

The survey, which was conducted in early February – before Trump’s tariffs actually went into effect –  also found that Americans, especially Republicans, have some hope for positive long-term outcomes for the economy thanks to the tariffs…

History is coming back to life once again as the City of Greensboro and the National Park Service gear up for an annual reenactment of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.

It’s set for the weekend of Saturday, March 15 and Sunday, March 16.

 The free event will take visitors back to the Revolutionary War era with a series of living history programs at Country Park and Guilford Courthouse National Military Park….

On Monday evening, March 3, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office reported that on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at just after 3:30 p.m., deputies executed a search warrant for a narcotics violation at 7986 Lester Road in Stokesdale.  It turns out they found quite a bounty of all sorts of drugs and even a military-grade smoke grenade.

As a result of the investigation, 35-year-old Chase Stephens, a Stokesdale resident, was arrested and charged with a wide range of crimes…