Latest news with #TheHighPointEnterprise
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill seeks to curtail homeless camps
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways RANDOLPH COUNTY — An area legislator said that he's shepherding a bill through the N.C. General Assembly that's meant to address concerns expressed by cities and counties and their residents about homeless camps. Rep. Brian Biggs, R-Randolph, is a primary cosponsor of House Bill 781, which would prohibit unauthorized homeless encampments on public property in the state. Exemptions to the proposal would have to come with the acceptance of local government officials and meet specific requirements. 'I saw some of the problems that local municipalities were having with long-term encampments and the damage that they were causing to the areas that they occupied,' Biggs told The High Point Enterprise. 'I felt the need to do something to protect the communities that were being affected by these camps. Municipalities reached out for guidance, surrounding property owners worried about their property values and communities worried about the cleanliness, dignity and the safety of the people inhabiting these camps.' House Bill 781 would set parameters for cities, towns and counties to allow for homeless camps, which could only remain in place for up to a year. A local government would have to show that there aren't enough local shelter beds available for its homeless population to allow for an encampment. The camp site wouldn't be allowed adjacent to property zoned residential and couldn't 'adversely or materially affect the property value or safety' of any residential or commercial property, the bill states. A municipal or county government would have to address public safety and accommodations, such as access to well-maintained restrooms, options for mental health treatment and enforcement of prohibitions on substance abuse. House Bill 781 would require the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services to review the local government plan before a municipality or county could allow for a homeless camp. Critics of the proposal argue that banning homeless camps statewide on public property would lead to the criminalization of homeless people from enforcement of the law and further complicate the lives of people on the margins of society. Biggs saide that his goal is to help people in homeless camps who can be in desperate situations. 'The hope is that we can help the people who are living in these situations through some of the remedies in the bill and also help the municipalities respond to a growing problem in the state,' he said. pjohnson@ | 336-888-3528 | @HPEpaul
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
City jobless rate holds steady
HIGH POINT — Local employers remained in a hiring mode as winter faded, continuing the extended recovery of the High Point job market from the coronavirus pandemic. The city of High Point unemployment rate was 4.4% in March, unchanged from February and down from 4.6% in March of last year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. The rate for this March was noticeably improved from the 6.9% level in March 2021 during COVID-19's impact on the economy. 'The unemployment rate remains below 5%, often considered the standard for a healthy job market,' said Mike McCully, associate professor of economics at High Point University. Over the past year, hiring has been strong in education, health care and professional services, McCully told The High Point Enterprise. 'Leisure and hospitality and manufacturing have faced the biggest challenges during the past year,' he said. The solid foundation of the North Carolina economy should help preserve job opportunities. 'The area's tax incentives, and our very strong air and highway transportation hubs, should continue to attract new businesses in the long run,' McCully said. Statewide, unemployment rates decreased in 43 counties from February to March, increased in 29 and remained unchanged in 28. Seven of the state's metropolitan areas posted rate increases, five recorded decreases and three remained unchanged, the N.C. Department of Commerce reported Tuesday. When compared to March of last year, unemployment rates increased in 44 counties, decreased in 30 and remained unchanged in 26. Seven metropolitan areas recorded rate increases over the year, five posted decreases and three remained unchanged. The number of counties with unemployment rates at or below 5% totaled 92 in March compared to 91 in February. No counties recorded unemployment rates in February or March at or above 10%, historically the sign of a struggling job market. The number of workers employed statewide increased in March by 30,225 to 5.1 million while the number unemployed decreased by 191 to 195,211. Since March 2024, the number of workers employed statewide decreased by 8,623, while the number unemployed increased by 4,939. pjohnson@ | 336-888-3528 | @HPEpaul
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Local Catholics mark death of Pope Francis
HIGH POINT — Catholics from across the High Point area are mourning the death of Pope Francis on Monday but also are celebrating the life of the religious leader who devoted himself to touching lives of people across the globe. Francis died at the age of 88 after a period of declining health. His last appearance was during an Easter Sunday service at the Vatican. The pope greeted thousands of people gathered for the occasion in St. Peter's Square. High Point businessman and lifelong Catholic Steve Ilderton said that Francis 'was very well-respected in the United States Catholic Church.' One of the legacies of Francis is his campaign to make the church open to more people of various backgrounds, Ilderton told The High Point Enterprise. 'If he would have lived, he probably would have gone into more liberating practices,' Ilderton said. Diocese of Charlotte Bishop Michael Martin, whose area includes Guilford, Davidson and Randolph counties, said that he was deeply saddened by the death of Francis. 'I am certain that all people of good will rejoice with us that this man of faith has 'finished the race,' and we pray that he will receive the reward which we have all been promised by our merciful God who has saved us from the finality of death,' Martin said. The Diocese of Charlotte covers 46 counties in western and central North Carolina encompassing about 550,000 Catholics. The diocese also includes 93 churches, 20 schools and more than 50 ministries. Francis, who was born and came of age in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was the first pope from Latin America. Francis was named the 266th pope in 2013.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Yahoo
Crump calls Cox case settlement ‘historic justice'
GREENSBORO — The family, supporters and legal team of Fred Cox Jr. observed a bittersweet celebration Thursday with the formal announcement of a $4 million settlement in the family's civil lawsuit over the Black teenager's death. 'We got historic justice — the highest amount ever paid out in High Point, North Carolina,' prominent civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, the Cox family's lead attorney, told supporters during a press conference Thursday afternoon at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro. 'It's because of you saying they will not define the legacy of Fred Cox — we will define the legacy of Fred Cox.' As The High Point Enterprise previously reported, a federal judge awarded the settlement in January, but Crump had not commented about the settlement publicly in the Triad before Thursday's press conference. Joined at the podium by Cox's mother, Tenicka Smith of High Point, Crump praised her courage and perseverance throughout the nearly 4½-year 'journey to justice' that began when her 18-year-old son was slain by a Davidson County Sheriff's Office deputy on Nov. 8, 2020, after a funeral at a High Point church. 'She refused to let Fred's death be in vain,' Crump said. 'Your son is looking down from heaven, very proud of his mama.' Smith tearfully thanked Crump and the rest of her legal team, as well as her family, friends and supporters. 'Fred was not just my baby — he was my only baby,' she said. 'I did not give up. I fought, I didn't sleep, and sometimes I slept too much, but I did not give up.' The wrongful death lawsuit was filed in the summer of 2021, after a grand jury opted not to indict the deputy, citing 'insufficient evidence to support criminal charges.' The suit named the deputy, Michael Shane Hill, and the Davidson County Sheriff's Office as defendants, contending Hill gunned down the teenager without cause. Hill fatally shot Cox at Living Water Baptist Church in High Point, where both were attending a memorial service for a young man who had been slain two weeks earlier in Davidson County. Cox was there as an acquaintance of the deceased, and Hill was investigating the homicide and attended the funeral at the request of the victim's family. According to witnesses, as mourners were leaving the church, gunfire from two passing vehicles rained down near the church, causing mourners to scatter and seek shelter. Witnesses say Cox was helping a youth and his mother get into the church safely when he was shot four times — at least twice from behind — by Hill. Cox, the father of two young children, died at the scene. Also during Thursday's press conference, Crump announced the filing of a $100 million lawsuit in the case of Shanquella Robinson, a Charlotte woman who was killed while vacationing with friends in Mexico in October 2022. Following Robinson's death, a widely circulated video appeared to show the 25-year-old Black woman being beaten by one of her friends — reportedly a Jamestown woman — while the others watched. The lawsuit was filed against the friends and the U.S. Department of Justice, which Crump said was 'malfeasant' in its response to Robinson's death. Citing insufficient evidence, federal prosecutors announced in April 2023 that no federal charges would be pursued in the case. Crump compared the case to that of Natalee Holloway, a white teenage girl from Alabama who disappeared from the Caribbean island of Aruba in 2005. 'America went in and did whatever they had to do to bring justice against her killer,' Crump said. 'Why wouldn't they do the same for this young Black woman?' Crump said he believes Robinson's family will win 'a historic verdict' in the case.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
County clerk of court appointed new judge
GUILFORD COUNTY — Longtime Guilford County Clerk of Superior Court Lisa Johnson-Tonkins has been named a county Superior Court judge. Gov. Josh Stein announced the appointment Wednesday to fill the judgeship for Guilford County Judicial District 24A left vacant by the recent retirement of Judge Lora Cubbage. Johnson-Tonkins, a Democrat, was first elected Guilford County Clerk of Superior Court in 2014. She has won her primary and general election races by comfortable margins. Johnson-Tonkins was unopposed in her last general election race in November 2022. 'Serving the citizens of Guilford County as the elected clerk has been a tremendous honor, and I am extremely humbled to have the opportunity to serve as a Superior Court judge,' Johnson-Tonkins told The High Point Enterprise. 'I pledge to uphold the highest standards of honor, dignity, compassion, fairness and integrity in every aspect of my judicial duties.' Johnson-Tonkins received her bachelor's degree from North Carolina A&T State University and her law degree from the North Carolina Central University School of Law. An interim Guilford County Clerk of Superior Court will be named to fill the unexpired term of Johnson-Tonkins through the end of next year. The clerk contest will be on the general election ballot in November 2026.
