🧵 In Today’s Edition

1. NC Folk Festival Returns to “Find Common Sound.”
2. The Agenda: Your Look at Local Government This Week
3. What We’re Reading

Photo courtesy of NC Folk Festival.

N.C. Folk Festival Returns This Summer to “Find Common Sound”

The N.C. Folk Festival will return to downtown Greensboro September 12-14 with an eclectic roster of Grammy award-winning headliners, up-and-coming stars, home-grown talents, and world music legends. This year’s theme: “Find Common Sound.”

Jodee Ruppel is the festival’s executive director and ethnomusicologist Savannah Thorne its programming chair. We caught up with them to talk about what that means and how the festival, held in Greensboro since 2015, continues to evolve.

Read the full story here.

— 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.

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The Agenda

Your Look at Local Government This Week


Local government touches our lives every day, and there’s no better way to stay in touch than attending a local meeting. Here’s your rundown of what’s happening across Guilford County this week.

City of Greensboro

Planning and Zoning Commission meeting
5:30 p.m. on Monday, May 19 @ Melvin Municipal Office Building, 300 W. Washington St.  in the Katie Dorsett Council Chambers

The commission will hold public hearings for rezonings at:

  • 1419 Glendale Drive, from R-3 (Residential Single-family – 3) to LI (Light Industrial)
  • 1199 Pleasant Ridge Road, 1801 and 1805 Cude Road, from County AG (Agricultural) and City CD-C-M (Conditional District – Commercial-Medium) to City O (Office)
  • 3707 McCuiston Road, from R-3 (Residential Single-family – 3) to CD-RM-18 (Conditional District – Residential Multi-family – 18)
  • 2308 Fleming Road, from CD-C-N (Conditional District – Commercial-Neighborhood) to CD-C-L (Conditional District – Commercial-Low)
  • 1619 Rankin Road, from R-5 (Residential Single-family-5) to PUD (Planned Unit Development)

    Plus, a request to close portions of Salem and Arlee streets.

    Greensboro City Council meeting

5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20 @ Melvin Municipal Office Building, 300 W. Washington St.  in the Katie Dorsett Council Chambers


The council will vote on more than 30 items, including:

  • Increasing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) fund budget for adult, youth, and dislocated workers by $3.46 million from the U.S. Department of Labor.
  • Filing the 2025-26 budget estimate with the city clerk. A public hearing on the budget will be held on June 3 at 5:30 p.m.
  • A 3-year $810,000 contract with McBride Lawn Care for mowing, maintenance, and lot clean-up services on property owned by the Redevelopment Commission of Greensboro, the Greensboro Housing Development Partnership, foreclosure properties, and some city-owned property.
  • A number of annexation and rezoning requests with public hearings.

City of High Point

Special meeting of the High Point City Council
4:30 p.m. on Monday, May 19 @ 211 S. Hamilton St.

City leaders will go into closed session one hour prior to their regular bimonthly meeting.

City Council meeting
5:30 p.m. on Monday, May 19 @ 211 S. Hamilton St.

City leaders will vote on more than 20 items, including:

  • Purchasing 30 mobile radios from Motorola Solutions for $139,194.
  • Spending $150,000 on sidewalk repairs.
  • Purchasing 1661 Westchester Drive for $970,000. The property will be used for the Commercial Shared Use Kitchen project.
  • Authorizing the issuance and sale of $41.2 million comprised enterprise system bonds for approved water and sewer projects.
  • Appointments to the High Point Economic Development Board of Directors, the Board of Adjustment, the Historic Preservation Commission, and the Planning and Zoning Commission.

    A public hearing will also be held on the $537.9 million proposed budget for 2025-26, as well as a public hearing for a rezoning and annexation request made by the Guilford County Board of Education.

Guilford County Board of Education

Legislative Committee meeting
3 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20 @ 712 N. Eugene St. in the board room

The board will go over state legislative matters, including:

  • An overview of a bill sponsored by Representative Donny Lambeth (R-Forsyth) and House Majority Conference Co-Chair Jeff Zenger (R-Forsyth) that would create a nine-member commission on large local schools. The commission would study “whether the local school administrative units with the five largest student populations in the state experience any negative outcomes due to the large student populations and to suggest remedies to any negative outcomes caused by the size of the student populations.”
  • A review of the board’s legislative priorities.
  • A review of state legislation that impacts Guilford County Schools.

Links to local board meetings and agendas:

Guilford County – Board of Commissioners

Guilford County – School Board

Greensboro – City Council

High Point – City Council

— Gale Melcher

Read this newsletter online or contact The Thread team with tips and feedback at greensboro@theassemblync.com.

What We’re Reading

4-Year Old Shot at Greensboro Park: Greensboro police charged a man in the shooting at Douglas Park on Thursday that critically injured a four-year-old and a man. Bryan Solomon, 38, was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and inflict serious injury, one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, and one count of going armed to the terror of the people. The News & Record reports.

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust: Natural burials and death cafes are changing the way people think, talk about, and prepare for the end of life. O. Henry Magazine has the story.

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.