Morning, gang.

As we head into October, we’ll continue to bring you candidate profiles and stories related to this year’s Greensboro City Council races. After the October 7 primary, the mayoral and district races will be narrowed to two candidates and the at-large field will go from ten candidates to six.

There are also going to be a number of opportunities for you to meet and hear from candidates and discuss political issues, including some I’ll be moderating myself. We look forward to seeing you at all of them.

On Friday, October 10, I’ll be moderating a panel discussion on book banning and North Carolina’s “Parents’ Bill of Rights.” The discussion will happen at 6 p.m. at Scuppernong Books, 304 S. Elm Street in downtown Greensboro.

On Friday, October 17, I’ll be moderating a town hall-style candidate forum hosted by the Interactive Resource Center on issues around housing and the unhoused. The event will be at 6 p.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 3906 W. Friendly Avenue in Greensboro.

This week, on October 2, is something a little different. I’ll be hosting a panel discussion about The Future of Journalism in Chapel Hill.


This free event promises to be a good time. Students from Youth Journalism International, the nonprofit that first got me into journalism, will moderate a killer panel discussion that includes:

Bill Adair, the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of PolitiFact and professor at Duke University.

Bervette Carree, vice president of News at ABC11/WTVD in the Triangle. Carree, a N.C. A&T State University alumnus, has worked for CNN, NBC News, and The Poynter Institute.

John Drescher, senior editor at The Assembly and former executive editor at The News & Observer. Drescher is also a former deputy editor of the Washington Post‘s political investigations team.

Erin Siegal McIntrye, a UNC-Chapel Hill professor and award-winning investigative and photo journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, as well as on Univision and Latino USA.

The discussion will begin at 7 p.m. at the Varsity Theatre, 123 East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill.

See you out there.

— Joe Killian

Thanks for reading The Thread, a 3x week newsletter written by Greensboro editor Joe Killian and reporters Sayaka Matsuoka and Gale Melcher. Reach us with tips or ideas at greensboro@theassemblync.com.

Not a subscriber yet? Good journalism is expensive–and we need your support to do more of it. For just $6 a month or $60 a year, you’ll unlock full access to our archives and help us grow in 2025.

Already a subscriber? Consider giving the gift of The Assembly to a friend.

Subscribe To The Assembly


Good morning! Tomorrow, Greensboro city staff will appear at a community meeting to talk about discolored water. On Thursday, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners will hold its regular twice-monthly meeting. Here’s a look at what’s on their agendas.

City of Greensboro

Community meeting to discuss discolored water concerns
Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m. @ East Market Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 101 W. Vandalia Rd.

In Southeast Greensboro, residents say they’ve had discolored water coming out of their pipes for the past three to six months. These discolored water issues are more concentrated in south Greensboro, according to City Water Resources Director Mike Borchers. The water is considered safe, Borchers’ department says, and the discoloration is due to iron and manganese being shaken up by hydraulic changes and the growth of the water distribution system. Water Resources will host a community meeting, where discussion topics will include information on the department’s water quality study, recent and proposed water system improvements, as well as updates on the city’s current flushing program. 

Guilford County

Board of Commissioners meeting
Thursday, Oct. 2, at 5:30 p.m. @ Old County Courthouse, 301 W. Market St.

The evening’s agenda includes:

  • A public hearing for the schedule of values, standards, and rules for the 2026 property tax reappraisal
  • Public hearings for grant applications—one is an enhanced mobility for seniors and people with disabilities grant, and another is a community transportation administration grant
  • Approving project ordinance revisions for the construction and replacement of schools. The school district has completed several projects since the ordinance was initially approved. Staff recommend transferring the rest of the money left over from the Brooks Global and Claxton Elementary Schools projects and the deferred capital projects at Cone and Florence elementary schools to new and existing deferred capital projects. This previously went before the Board of Education, which approved it earlier this month.
  • Appointing Edmund Allen to the Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee, Frank Whitaker to the Fire District Commission of Oak Ridge, and John McCarter to the Fire District Commission of Pinecroft-Sedgefield.


Links to local board meetings and agendas:

Guilford County – Board of Commissioners

Guilford County – Board of Education

Greensboro – City Council

Greensboro – City Calendar

High Point – City Council

— Gale Melcher

What We’re Reading

Suspect Apprehended: Greensboro police made an arrest last week in the 2022 killing of N.C. A&T State University student Kaneycha Turner, 19. Turner was one of six people shot on October 25, 2022, at a block party at the Cottages apartment complex near the A&T campus. Ronaldlee Snipes, a 15-year-old student at James B. Dudley High School, also died in the shooting. The News & Record has more.

Wait…That’s a Misdemeanor?: Charges have been filed against a Greensboro woman who is accused of running an unlicensed care facility. Hazel Mae Forman, 50, faces a misdemeanor for not having a license to run the HMF Family Home Care in Greensboro. Larry Burton, 74, wandered away from the unlicensed care home in July and hasn’t been seen since. Fox8 has the story.

Downtown Plans: New entertainment districts, fewer empty storefronts, and new life at the Kress Building and the old News & Record site are part of Downtown Greensboro Inc.’s GSO 35 plan, reports The News & Record.

Joe Killian is The Assembly's Greensboro editor. He joined us from NC Newsline, where he was senior investigative reporter. He spent a decade at The News & Record covering cops and courts, higher education, and government.

Gale is a Report for America corps member and Greensboro-based reporter for The Assembly. She previously covered local government and community issues for Triad City Beat. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from N.C. State University.