OUR VIEW: Don’t fight over city growth That ugly A-word is back in the news again – annexation. Last week, N.C. House Reps. Jerry Dockham and Rayne Brown, Republicans from Davidson County, introduced in the General Assembly House Bill ...
OUR VIEW: Consider the taxpayers in this The new Guilford County jail that opens in Greensboro in a few weeks has turned out to be a bit of a bargain for the county. So now the debate among commissioners is centering on what to do with e...
OUR VIEW: Bridge projects put tax money to work The coming traffic detours, delays and slow-downs no doubt will cause some frustrations during the next couple of years. But just try to think of it as your tax dollars at work – at work doing some...
OUR VIEW: State votes right, then left, then ... A front-page story by political reporter Paul B. Johnson in Monday’s Enterprise spotlighted it. And then a column on Tuesday’s Opinion page by John Hood focused on it – the two snapshots of the sta...
OUR VIEW: Foreign workers supply farm labor An Associated Press story in Sunday’s Business section reported on growing frustrations over a federal program that allows foreign seasonal agricultural workers into the United States. It told of e...
OUR VIEW: Interest keeps growing in city elections It’s official now. The Becky Smothers era will end for the city of High Point. Well, maybe not. Let’s just say – the Mayor Becky Smothers era will end. On Wednesday, during the High Point Chambe...
OUR VIEW: Preservation is rock-solid idea The answer to the first question is easy. Should the Depression-era Rock Gym at the old Allen Jay School campus be placed on the National Register of Historic Places? Certainly. The answer to the...
OUR VIEW: Recover some lunchroom debt No one likes the thought of a child going hungry at school. We all agree a student is more apt to learn his or her school lessons if not fighting off hunger pains. But the fact that a half-million...
OUR VIEW: Coltrane group offers payback plan OK. Now, we are getting somewhere. Organizers of the John Coltrane International Jazz and Blues Festival have proposed to the city a payback plan for the $27,000 outstanding from funds City Counci...
OUR VIEW: Today’s your chance to count Without question, the Democratic and Republican parties’ primaries today have taken a back seat to the debate over the proposed change to the North Carolina Constitution known as Amendment One. Ce...
OUR VIEW: Amendment defines marriage Opponents of Amendment One have called its language ambiguous. They’ve contended that if it is approved by voters Tuesday, children possibly will go without health care, possibly be subject to ...
OUR VIEW: Two local races have familiar faces Some High Point residents are helping decide Tuesday a couple of interesting rematches in Democratic primaries for two Guilford County districts in the N.C. Legislature. Both contests will pick the...
OUR VIEW: Mayor’s race could attract crowd The 2010 race for High Point mayor was an intense, high-profile and contentious affair. As it’s looking right now, the 2012 tussle for the city’s top elected post just might top the last one. On T...
OUR VIEW: Redistricting goes smoothly for city Isn’t it amazing how quietly the redistricting process required after the U.S. Census seems to go when it involves nonpartisan elections? Compare all the fuss, the backroom maneuvering, arm-twisti...
OUR VIEW: Upbeat mood carries spring market The crowds and activities at the spring 2012 High Point Market thinned significantly on Wednesday and Thursday, the last two official days of the six-day event. But the upbeat mood evidenced since ...
OUR VIEW: American-made focus returns The bright red, white and blue badge artist and furniture designer Bob Timberlake was wearing on his lapel Tuesday at the High Point Market represented a cause near and dear to his heart – promotin...
OUR VIEW: Past blends with industry future Having begun in 1909, there’s a lot of history behind this spring 2012 edition of the High Point Market. And with the city having grown from the late 1800s into the nation’s powerhouse manufacturin...
OUR VIEW: Market start looks promising Clear skies Saturday morning may have given way to showers around the Triad later in the day, and today’s forecast may call for a high chance of rain all day. But with a week like the one leading ...
OUR VIEW: Trinity is having growing pains It’s been a painful year and a half for the city of Trinity and our friends and neighbors there. Last year began with a controversy over whether to hold another alcohol referendum. That discussion...
OUR VIEW: Shakespeare, Pre-Market converge downtown The stage is being set for this fall’s return of the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival MainStage season. After canceling production of its 34th MainStage season last fall, Festival officials anno...
OUR VIEW: Budget proposal raises taxes Guilford County Commissioners are faced with an unusual budget situation this year after a county property revaluation, and it looks like it’s going to cost county taxpayers. This year’s countywide...
OUR VIEW: Obama should stop the attack The U.S. Senate may treat nicely President Obama’s so-called “Buffett rule” proposal. It’s not expected, however, to do as well in the U.S. House of Representatives. That’s a good thing. Obama has...
OUR VIEW: Coltrane controversy can have an end It is unfortunate that something with so much potential for positively projecting High Point has become the city’s controversy that seemingly will not go away. Anytime anything remotely regarding ...
OUR VIEW: Trial will capture nation’s attention
Someone said media attention surrounding the George Zimmerman trial will make it “O.J. East.” Someone noted that under Florida’s Sunshine Law, we’ll have gavel to gavel coverage live and direct fro...
OUR VIEW: Romney must get, keep conservatives on board Technically, it’s not over; Mitt Romney doesn’t have it in the bag, yet. But with Rick Santorum withdrawing from the race for the Republican nomination for president on Tuesday, that chase is – as...
OUR VIEW: Westside plan helps protect environment The Davidson County Board of Commissioners last week postponed consideration of High Point’s request to expand the Westside Wastewater Treatment Plant. As it now stands, the Davidson board will res...
OUR VIEW: Community revitalization begins with goats? We expect the story on Monday’s front page headlined “Nature’s solution” likely will spawn some one-liners and generate a few chuckles. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But there’s nothing fun...
OUR VIEW: Policy promoting religious diversity scuttled The Guilford County Board of Commissioners has decided to approach the controversial matter of opening commissioners meetings with prayer from a different angle – just to be on the safe side. “We ...
OUR VIEW: Make redistricting process nonpartisan The issue started in the county courthouse, went to the state Legislature in Raleigh, came back to the Guilford Board of Elections, then went to the federal courthouse. And now, it’s going back to ...
OUR VIEW: City commitment to Stanley is wise As we anticipate arrival of the spring 2012 edition of the High Point Market in just over two weeks, furniture industry good news for High Point, Guilford County and the surrounding area continues ...
OUR VIEW: Marketplace fairness is fine goal The bills are called Marketplace Fairness Act in the U.S. Senate and Marketplace Equity Act in the U.S. House of Representatives, and they are gaining more traction in Congress as Internet-based sa...
OUR VIEW: Irresponsible talk compounds a tragedy Whatever happened in Sanford, Fla., on the February night that 17-year-old Trayvon Martin died was tragic. No matter what the truth is, no matter what the facts (still to be determined) are surroun...
OUR VIEW: City’s relocation policy should go There seems to be only one reasonable option left. Last year, High Point City Council convincingly defeated a proposal to attach to property not meeting housing codes liens for the cost of removin...
OUR VIEW: District 6 residents will have choices
Call it an example of democracy in action, or the power of public involvement or maybe the voice of the people ringing out. But whatever label you apply, we’d call it ... exciting. On May 8, atte...
OUR VIEW: Maybe city should oversee Coltrane festival It’s an idea certainly worth exploring. And it could avoid something like this ongoing controversy over seed money to stage the event. Why doesn’t the city of High Point put on the next John Coltra...
OUR VIEW: Another Guilford tax hike will hurt Ongoing and upcoming 2012-2013 budget discussions by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners are shaping up to be some pretty painful affairs, especially for county taxpayers, despite a little g...
OUR VIEW: Coltrane group should act soon The Friends of John Coltrane didn’t bring a check to Monday’s High Point City Council meeting, but it’s now clear the organization will repay $32,000 loaned by the city for last year’s inaugural fe...
OUR VIEW: Co-operative relationship helps meet needs This could be called a good example of how nonprofit agencies who help those in need and public officials who have taxpayer dollars available to help provide emergency assistance should work togeth...
OUR VIEW: For many, he’s not convincingly conservative The nation’s eyes are on Illinois today with a Republican Party primary that has 54 delegates up for grabs in the presidential sweepstakes. And despite the fact that polls are giving frontrunner Mi...
OUR VIEW: Avoid another GEO Care-like conflict Perhaps it was the controversy over location. Maybe it was questions about the company’s operations elsewhere. Or maybe the company’s proposal for a forensic mental health operation here wasn’t exa...
A QUICK THOUGHT: Firetruck cost We suspect, like us, you believe that $480,668 is a lot of money to pay for a 2012 model pumper truck with a 750-gallon tank pumper apparatus, and that $857,775 is a high cost for replacing a 1984 ...
OUR VIEW: Congratulations to the Villains Wow! Seven in a row. Do you believe Brian Robinson and the Bishop McGuinness girls basketball team can make it eight in a row? Bishop McGuinness is described as “a college prep, co-educational Cat...
OUR VIEW: City action heads off noise woes Some folks may not like the recent action by High Point City Council to expand the city’s zoning overlay district near Piedmont Triad International Airport. Some might call it government imposing m...
OUR VIEW: Voter ID laws protect the process The Associated Press reports that for months U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has been talking a lot about voting rights. “We need election systems that are free from fraud, discrimination and pa...
A QUICK THOUGHT: Phone solicitations Regarding prevention of election fraud, always be wary of telephone calls soliciting funds in the name of a politician seeking or already holding office. The Enterprise reported last week about a s...
OUR VIEW: Imposing tolls is wrong road We’ve never been much opposed to governments at all levels charging reasonable user fees to help fund services they provide. And folks pushing development of toll roads say that concept is just a u...
OUR VIEW: Market prospects are looking up We might say the stars are beginning to align for a pretty decent Spring 2012 High Point Market. Or maybe we should just say that news reports and news releases are starting to indicate such. On T...
OUR VIEW: Revitalization efforts in city must continue We’re happy to see that a part of the city that many of you never travel through is getting even more attention from the folks at City Hall, even if plans currently are described as “tentative.” C...
OUR VIEW: Just conduct business in public Last week, we expressed our concern that the Trinity city park dispute was for some of our friends and neighbors getting too close to a boiling point. We asked residents and city officials to take ...
Community loses super volunteers Roger Sims, giving the invocation at the High Point Chamber of Commerce annual meeting luncheon Wednesday, said it best when he noted that the community had lost two champions over the previous two...
OUR VIEW: Now, let’s get the job finished Put the pedal to the metal! Now that the surety agency has selected a contractor (from among four pre-qualified bidders) to replace the fired Miles Builders of Charlotte to complete renovation and...
OUR VIEW: A quick thought The idea of installing a traffic circle, called a roundabout, at the intersection of N. Elm Street, Parkway Avenue, Lindsay Street and Hillcrest Drive is a good plan that should keep traffic moving...
OUR VIEW: Forget about 4-year terms, move on As the saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! The length of the term – two years – that High Point City Council members serve isn’t broken, and it doesn’t need fixing (extending it to four...
OUR VIEW: A quick thought Remember the market district “boundary” plan High Point City Council discussed and unanimously rejected a couple of years ago? We find it interesting that a map showing the proposed High Point Wi-...
OUR VIEW: Community celebrates United Way success Volunteer members of the United Way of Greater High Point 2011 campaign cabinet, headed by High Point’s Greg York, are deserving of high praise. The professional staff, led by Bobby Smith, is due m...
OUR VIEW: Look to resolve Trinity park dispute During the nearly 15 years since incorporation in 1997, nothing has divided Trinity residents so deeply and caused animosity so bitter as the ongoing dispute over building a 30-acre city park. Ma...
OUR VIEW: Perdue’s approval rate fell in HPU poll Some folks don’t put a lot of stock in political opinion polls, but the last couple of polls by High Point University’s Survey Research Center seem to have provided the handwriting on the wall for ...
OUR VIEW: High Point Regional looks to future It’s a wise move. The High Point Regional Health System Board of Trustees is dealing with the general state of the economy – now and during the next couple of years, changes in insurance coverage ...
OUR VIEW: Please let the elections proceed The stage is set for Guilford County Board of Commissioners elections this year. ... Well, at least for now. After several weeks of confusion, trips to the courthouse and competing plans and sugge...
OUR VIEW: Speculation drives oil market now We’re hearing a lot these days about the rising prices of gasoline, and we’re not expecting that talk to die down anytime soon. According to the experts on this, tensions in the Middle East, finan...
OUR VIEW: Coltrane festival group should repay city The big news is that the cost of last September’s John Coltrane International Jazz and Blues Festival did not exceed the available revenues for putting on the event. Now, the big question is: When...
OUR VIEW: Biodiesel may be avenue to savings Riders on about 50 buses of the Guilford County School district will become guinea pigs – so to speak – this spring when the district begins testing using biodiesel fuel in school buses as a possib...
OUR VIEW: Political expediency wins out again You’re not paying now, but you will pay later. A couple of months ago, when President Obama, the Democrats in Congress and their Republican counterparts took the “political football” nature of Soc...
OUR VIEW: Winner will be a ‘jobs’ president If you are wondering why those hoping to be elected or re-elected president of the United States this year are focusing on jobs, wonder no more. It’s because all of them have seen census figures a...
OUR VIEW: Put ’em all up for a vote A lawsuit stemming from the redistricting and reduction of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners is scheduled for a hearing today in federal court in Greensboro. The hearing provides the oppor...
OUR VIEW: Council should stay out of hiring process It’s certainly within the purview of High Point City Councilmen Foster Douglas and Mike Pugh to ask questions and express any concerns about the recent selection process for a new police chief. But...
OUR VIEW: UNC system must evaluate efficiencies For all the assembled intelligence, it seems many folks on both sides of the tuition hike issue at the University of North Carolina just don’t get it. On the one side, last week at a UNC Board of ...
OUR VIEW: March brings history lessons home What a way to learn a history lesson, especially if you had no idea what happened a half-century ago and what it meant to this community. Last week, some 150 high school students from Penn-Griffin...
OUR VIEW: Interstate improves site’s potential For all the controversy the site selection process for Oak Hollow Mall sparked about 20 years ago, perhaps it’s ironic that the mall’s location away from a major regional roadway, such as an inters...
OUR VIEW: Welborn led schools through transitions A. Laurin Welborn, longtime chairman of the High Point Board of Education, had been out of the spotlight almost as long as he was in it when he died at the age of 88 this week. But during his 28 ye...
OUR VIEW: Look behind the unemployment numbers We hope you weren’t one of those who was mesmerized by the unemployment number coming out of Washington last week, noting that the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent, the lowest in three years. ...
OUR VIEW: Settle these questions and move on The Guilford County Board of Elections is scheduled to meet today to discuss, in light of a lawsuit challenging a new district plan for county commissioners, whether to delay next week’s opening of...
OUR VIEW: Romney may like independent voters shift Today’s Republican Party activities perhaps could be called, “A faux Super Tuesday.” The GOP will hold non-binding caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota. Republicans in Missouri also will vote in a n...
OUR VIEW: District 6 will have a voice No taxation without representation. That’s a pretty catchy phrase with a nice ring to it. Some folks in the American colonies got a good bit of mileage out of it in the mid-1700s. And back then, t...
OUR VIEW: Las Vegas, High Point are now allies It has seemed strange this week to read in the Enterprise and other sources about the winter edition of the Las Vegas Market and not snarling at the upstart competition to the High Point Market. N...
OUR VIEW: Let’s keep two-year council term Perish the thought! The idea pushed lately by some members of High Point City Council to override the will of the people and switch from two-year terms to four-year terms swiftly and effectively s...
OUR VIEW: HPU provides boost with more hiring The greater High Point community heard more good news on its economic front late last week when Nido Qubein announced that High Point University, already the city’s eighth largest employer will hav...
OUR VIEW: Five Points redevelopment looks promising The plan by Florida-based GEO Care to build a mental hospital at the Interstate 74/Greensboro Road interchange in east High Point has caused quite a controversy the last few months. But we’ve got a...
OUR VIEW: Perdue shakes up Democratic landscape It certainly was surprising, but it was not a shock. On Thursday in a written statement, Gov. Beverly Perdue announced she will not seek a second term as governor. The decision came just about two...
OUR VIEW: President’s speech fails to impress After his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, you could overhear Secretary of State Hillary Clinton congratulating President Obama and saying his speech was “the best.” With all due respect,...
OUR VIEW: We’ve read some good education news Not being accustomed to looking at the local education process with a positive viewpoint, some of us may have missed the good news over last weekend. A leading researcher – Shelley Billig, RMC Res...
OUR VIEW: GOP presidential field narrows Now, it’s getting interesting. When the stage was full of would-be nominees maneuvering to grab enough time to throw out a cute one-liner, the attraction just wasn’t there. But now, it’s Mitt vs. ...
OUR VIEW: Update data on Market’s impact In light of the tough economy and lean budgets, now probably seems like a strange time to consider conducting an economic impact study. And for a public entity to consider allocating taxpayer fundi...
OUR VIEW: Election motivates Perdue’s tax proposal It’s not that we don’t like the idea of raising North Carolina’s sales tax. It’s just the politically partisan way in which Gov. Beverly Perdue has proposed this three-quarter cent sales tax hike,...
OUR VIEW: IHM goes green with new school When Immaculate Heart of Mary’s new pre-K to eighth grade school opens near the Johnston Street-Skeet Club Road intersection early in 2013, it will be the first LEED certified green school in High ...
OUR VIEW: Courts put prayer dispute to rest Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court and our neighbors in Forsyth County, we can say that High Point’s controversy during the last few years regarding prayer at City Council meetings is, in effect, ove...
OUR VIEW: Will smoking issue burn again? It’s been a pleasant two years for those among us who like to eat out or visit a tavern, but don’t care for the smell and taste of cigarette smoke. North Carolina’s ban on indoor smoking in restaur...
OUR VIEW: Extra school days aren’t needed The Republican dominated General Assembly wanted to make a statement last year that it was serious about improving education in North Carolina. So the Legislature passed a bill mandating an extende...
OUR VIEW: Review videos for comments period As much as we detest governmental bureaucracy and red tape, especially created by officials who are supposed to be closet to the people ... And as much as we detest almost anything that in some ...
OUR VIEW: Approve sterilization compensation Sometimes, it costs a little money to do the right thing. Sometimes it costs a lot of money. In these days of limited revenues, state budget deficits and legislative fights over spending cuts and ...
OUR VIEW: Thomas officials bring us good news There’s good news and bad news this week in High Point’s business community. The good news is coming out of one of the city’s longtime companies – Thomas Built Buses. And the bad news possibly is ...
OUR VIEW: Shakespeare’s main season is back Maybe it’s because of an improvement in the area’s economic fortunes. Maybe it’s because of renewed energy in the company’s management. Or maybe it’s because of a realization that the North Caroli...
OUR VIEW: Revaluation on horizon in Guilford There’s no time like the present, as they say. So Guilford County officials decided two years ago during the depths of the housing market decline not to delay a required revaluation of real estate ...
OUR VIEW: Prepare now for road’s completion Did you read the good news in Friday’s Enterprise? “The N.C. Department of Transportation still is on track to finish the final section of U.S. 311 in October, said Jeff Loflin, DOT resident engi...
OUR VIEW: Focus on racism, not statistics Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue called the Legislature back into session this week to consider her veto of a Republican-sponsored bill that changes parts of the Racial Justice Act of 2009. On Wednes...
OUR VIEW: Keep PART in mind for city service High Point officials will find themselves next month in the same situation Guilford county commissioners were in last fall when a transportation company gave up its contract to provide services to ...
OUR VIEW: Watt mulls another run for U.S. House Democrat U.S. Rep. Mel Watt of Charlotte also is smoking over whether to run for the House of Representatives again. Watt represents the 12th District, which includes parts of High Point and Guilfo...
OUR VIEW: We see a smooth transition Nine years ago, High Point City Manager Strib Boynton cast a wide net seeking a replacement for former Police Chief Louis Quijas. That nationwide search produced a fine catch; Jim Fealy went to wor...
OUR VIEW: We look toward a new year Happy New Year! We hope that any troubles you experienced in 2011 fade and that 2012 brings pleasant experiences for us all. We certainly expect that will be the case for families of our U.S. mili...
OUR VIEW: Coble faces a tough decision We’re glad to see from reports of his meeting with the media on Wednesday that Republican 6th District Congressman Howard Coble has beat the bug that recently required his hospitalization in Washin...
