🧵 In Today’s Edition

1. Eight years after his first run, Irving Allen wants to be part of a transformation on Greensboro’s City Council
2. The Agenda
3. What We’re Reading
4. Around the State

Irving Allen speaks at his campaign launch event earlier this month. (Sayaka Matsuoka for The Thread)

Irving Allen Wants Another Shot at City Council

Irving Allen walked through the growing crowd at Dame’s Chicken and Waffles earlier this month, shaking hands, dabbing up supporters, and smiling at those who walked through the doors. Friends, family members, and various elected officials had gathered at the restaurant after hours for Allen’s Greensboro City Council campaign launch event. At 38, Allen is almost a decade older than he was the last time he ran for council in 2017. Since then, he said he’s learned a lot.

A seasoned organizer whose family has deep ties to civil rights in Greensboro, Allen has used his experience over the years to launch a bid for an at-large council seat this year. The race is stacked—10 candidates, including Allen, all vying for the three at-large seats on the nine-member council. Two current at-large members —Hugh Holston and Jamilla Pinder— are running for re-election. The third, Marikay Abuzuaiter, is running for mayor.

There are a lot of contenders—some incumbents, some well-known and well-funded names running for the first time. But Allen told The Thread he thinks he has a shot this time around.

Read the full story here.

— Sayaka Matsuoka

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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Here’s this week’s rundown of what’s happening in local government.

There are no scheduled meetings of the Greensboro or High Point City Councils or of the full Guilford County Board of Commissioners this week. The Guilford County Homelessness Task Force and the Guilford County Board of Education’s Policy Committee meeting will both meet on Wednesday.

Guilford County

Guilford County Homelessness Task Force
Wednesday, August 27, at 4 p.m., @ City Lake Event Center, High Point City Lake Park 602 W. Main St., Jamestown. Watch the meeting live here.

The agenda for this event is not yet available.

Guilford County Board of Education – Policy Committee Meeting
Wednesday, August 27, at 2 p.m. @ Community Education Center, Room 114 at 2703 E. Florida Street, Greensboro. Agenda available here.

The committee will review a proposed policy on substitutes, consider repealing a transfer policy, and review a new policy on employee assignments and transfers.

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

— Joe Killian

What We’re Reading

Madame Justice in Aggieland: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court, will speak at N.C. A&T State University. Her September 3 speech, part of the tour to support her memoir, will be open to A&T students, faculty, and staff only. The News & Record has the story.

In With The New: Students returning to Guilford County Schools will find new safety vestibules and a new system for monitoring grades, attendance, and assignments. Fox 8 reports.

Footage Released: A Superior Court Judge has granted the City of Greensboro’s request for the release of Greensboro Police Department bodycam footage from a controversial May 14 traffic stop. In footage of the stop posted online, Officer Braden McDaniel can be seen pointing his gun inside the vehicle and threatening to shoot the occupants. Police will have three weeks to “review, redact, should the law require, and compile the BWC footage of said traffic stop in order to release it to the general public.” The News & Record has the story.

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Around The State

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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.

Sayaka Matsuoka is a Greensboro-based reporter for The Assembly. She was formerly the managing editor for Triad City Beat, an alt-weekly based in Greensboro. She has reported for INDY Week, The Bitter Southerner, and Nerdist, and is the editorial/diversity chair for AAN Publishers.