Greensboro Stories

The State is considering a request from the City of Greensboro to draw water from the Haw River.

Tonight the Division of Water Quality will listen to citizens at the first of several public hearings. As of now Greensboro takes its water from Lakes Higgins, Brandt and Townsend.  Greensboro's Interim Director of Water Resources Kenny McDowell says the proposal to use the Haw would allow the city greater flexibility.

A proposal under consideration by state officials may help protect Haw River and surrounding areas. The plan involves reclassifying a portion of the river in and around Guilford County. This aims to preserve existing water resources by limiting development. Jason Martin heads planning in nearby Alamance County. He says the river’s status as an emergency water supply led to the push for reclassification.

The city of Greensboro is taking a lesson from Atlanta on how to help spur job growth in its community. 

Deborah Hooper is president of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce.  And she says the feed-back has been positive since announcing the new initiative – "One Job For Greensboro.”  The idea is for all 16-thousand employers in the city to add at least one full-time worker to their rolls in the next year.

Guilford County is in the running for a massive solar power project.

National Solar Power of Melbourne, Florida has selected seven finalists for what it says will be the “world’s largest solar farm” – and Guilford County is on the list.  Gail Vadia is a spokeswoman for the Greensboro Partnership – a community and economic development organization in Guilford County. She says National Solar Power has already been in contact with land-owners.

Greensboro city officials will cut the ribbon for a new amphitheater today. The venue is located on the southern part of the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. The amphitheater's capacity holds about 2,000 more people than Raleigh's new downtown Amphitheater. Andrew Brown with the coliseum says an amphitheater was a natural choice for the complex.

A UNC-Greensboro study shows a major economic impact of small farm ventures funded by the Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund. But state budget cuts could end the program.  

  In this tough economy – there are many casualties in the state budget package passed by the house.  One casualty is the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission. Joe Schroeder is director of the Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund Program – supported by the Tobacco Trust.  He says they have dispersed 3.6 million dollars in the past three years.  But the economic impact was more than 700-million.

The 9-1-1 center for Guilford County and Greensboro will test its disaster readiness beginning today.  Guilford Metro will relocate to a backup facility across town until Friday morning.

Opposition is mounting against reopening Greensboro’s only landfill to solid household waste. The proposal upsets nearby residents who say it could harm their health and future development. A previous city council voted to close the landfill, which is located in a residential area. Former Councilwoman Goldie Wells is part of the Concerned Citizens of Northeast Greensboro.

"It shouldn’t have been brought up again because we had fought the battle once before. It’s not good for the community, not good for economic growth in this area, and really for the city of Greensboro."

Thousands of visitors are pouring into Greensboro for one of this country's most prestigious sporting events- the annual U-S Figure Skating Championships. It begins tomorrow and runs through January 30th at the Greensboro Coliseum. This is the first time North Carolina has ever hosted the competition.