Government - Randolph Record

20 Jul

Asheboro City Council approves change order for Zoo City Sportsplex

Ryan Henkel, North State JournalGovernmentCity of Asheboro Council, Zoo City Sportsplex

ASHEBORO — The City of Asheboro Council met Thursday, where they approved a budget amendment for unexpected costs related to the Zoo City Sportsplex, as well as held multiple public hearings for rezoning requests. The council approved a $2,674,019 budgetary amendment to account for a change order with Terry’s Plumbing and Utilities, Inc. regarding the Zoo City Sportsplex Project. “This work includes $940,953 of additional rock removal from the site,” said City Engineer Michael Leonard, PE. “The estimated excavation was for 10,000 cubic yards, and we ended up encountering approximately 24,500 cubic yards, most of which was in phase two.”…

08 Jun

Four Fire Districts officially restructured to remove fire tax cap

Ryan HenkelGovernment, NewsRandolph County Board of Commissioners

ASHEBORO — The Randolph County Board of Commissioners met Monday, June 6 where they officially approved the abolishment and subsequent restructuring of four of the county’s fire districts. The County closed the final public hearings for the fire tax district restructuring for Climax, Franklinville, Guil-Rand and Westside fire departments and passed the resolution to officially change all four of them. The four fire departments will still cover the same areas, the only change is that they will no longer be held to a 15 cent fire tax cap, albeit the departments still would have to get approval by the Board…

07 Jun

Some county schools will see new start times this fall

Griffin DaughtryGovernment, NewsRandolph County Schools

ASHEBORO — The Randolph County School Board met Monday and approved a tiered bussing pilot program. The new program is intended to mitigate the current bus driver shortage and meet the State’s Department of Public Instruction efficiency ratings. County bus routes were more than two hours this school year, with pickup times starting before 5:30 am. In some cases, students were being dropped off at home after 5:30 pm. By focusing on elementary and middle school routes, the county expects to significantly cut down route times and limit the number of necessary drivers. This pilot system does not come without…

26 May

Most highway construction on hold for Memorial Day weekend

Randolph RecordEntertainment, Government, NewsMemorial Day

RALEIGH – The Memorial Day holiday weekend is the unofficial start to summer, and many people will kick it off with a road trip. AAA predicts nearly 1.2 million North Carolinians will travel at least 50 miles or more from home this Memorial Day weekend, which is a 7.2% increase over 2021. The N.C. Department of Transportation will be shutting down major construction that could affect travelers because of lane closures along interstates, U.S. and key N.C. routes from this Friday morning until next Tuesday night. There are some exceptions where construction conditions do not allow for the opening of…

17 May

Biggs tops Hurley to claim GOP nomination to NC House

Randolph RecordGovernment, News, Politics2022 Elections, Brian Biggs

ASHEBORO — A Randolph County School Board Member topped an eight-term Republican incumbent in the 2022 primary Tuesday. Brian Biggs defeated Rep. Pat Hurley to claim the GOP nomination for House District 70. Biggs ran a grassroots campaign focused on protecting religious freedom, pro-life values and private property rights. He ran a sustained campaign against Hurley that ultimately garnered him over 52% of the primary vote. Biggs will face Democrat Susan Lee (Susie) Scott in the general election. Scott was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

17 May

Seabolt rolls as local incumbents hold in GOP primary

Bob SuttonGovernment, News, PoliticsElection 2022, GOP Primary, Randolph

ASHEBORO — Greg Seabolt, the incumbent Randolph County Sheriff, fended off a couple of challengers to win the Republican Party primary Tuesday with a majority of the votes. Seabolt received 9,417 votes, with Timmy Hasty next with 6,196 and Robert Graves third with 2,788. Seabolt garnered over 51 percent of the Republican vote. There were no Democratic primaries in Randolph County this year. In other local races, incumbents held on to their re-election hopes by winning contested GOP primaries. Randolph County Commissioners A pair of incumbents received stiff challenges but ended up ahead in Republican primaries. David Allen’s 8,898 votes…

17 May

Randolph County voters turn out early

Randolph RecordGovernment, Politicsboard of elections, election, randolph county, Randolph County Board of Elections

ASHEBORO – Nearly 4,000 more voters in Randolph County cast early ballots for this month’s primary compared to a similar election cycle four years ago. With four early voting sites, the total number of voters in Randolph County checked in at 10,205. Fourteen days of early voting concluded Saturday afternoon. Saturday’s number of voters was 1,055. The primary day was set for Tuesday. In 2018, the total number of early voters in the county was 6,376. This spring, the final tallies for the four sites were: 5,019 at the Board of Elections office in Asheboro, 2,108 at Braxton Craven School…

13 May

Voting turnout strong for primary in Randolph County

Bob SuttonGovernmentAsheboro, early voting

ASHEBORO — Voting turnout for next week’s primary appears to be well ahead of the pace for a similar voting cycle in 2018 if Randolph County voters are any indication. In the first seven days of early voting, there were a total of 3,990 voters to turn out among the four voting sites in the county. That left more than a week remaining for voters to cast ballots in advance of the May 17 primary. In 2018, there were 14 days for Randolph County voters to cast ballots in one-stop early voting. Four years ago, 6,376 voters took advantage of…

11 May

Abortion adds to Biden’s stalled to-do list

Associated PressGovernment, Nationabortion, Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden, White House

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Joe Biden’s list of impossible tasks keeps getting longer. Despite lofty promises he’s made, from the campaign trail through his first year in office, he has made limited progress to enact his party’s agenda. It’s a disorienting and discouraging state of affairs for Democrats, who control both Congress and the White House for the first time in more than a decade. Biden’s pledge to codify Roe v. Wade into law seems destined for the same rocky shoals where other parts of his agenda, like tax credits for clean energy or legislation that would preempt state voting…

05 May

County board chairman says the restructuring of fire districts is not a tax increase

Ryan HenkelGovernmentAsheboro, fire districts, Randolph County Board of Commissioners

ASHEBORO – The Randolph County Board of Commissioners met Monday with multiple budget items on the agenda as well as to provide some clarification in regards to the new fire districts. First up, the board of commissioners approved the final design by HH Architecture for the development of the Farm, Food and Family Education Center as well as a budget amendment to reallocate the funds that the county had already set aside for the project. The plan, which will cost $29,564,000, will have around 44 acres of development with around 60 acres of undeveloped land as a buffer. “There’s a…