🧵 In Today’s Edition

1. Local University students speak up in a conflict over early voting sites
2. What We’re Reading

‘We Need Young Voters’

When students Tatiana James and Khadijah Barry voted in an election for the first time last year, they did so on their own campus.

The juniors, who are studying criminal justice and political science at NC A&T State University, said they were grateful their campus had an early-voting site. When they found out that it wouldn’t return for the mid-term primaries next year, they were shocked.

“Having an early-voting site on campus or near campus is important for the student body,” Barry said. “A&T is huge. Students make up a good bit of Greensboro.”

In mid-November, the Guilford County Board of Elections approved its plan for early-voting sites for the 2026 midterm primary elections. In a 3-2, party-line vote, the board’s Republican majority approved 10 locations for early-voting in February —none at either A&T or UNC-Greensboro.

Dozens protested the move at the meeting, James and Barry among them.

“We’re putting an emphasis on the accessibility for all students and all residents—temporary or permanent in Greensboro—being able to vote,” James said.

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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What We’re Reading

Expansion Plans: Hoffman & Hoffman Inc., a Greensboro HVAC company, will invest $40 million locally and create 131 new jobs through an expansion, the News & Record reports. The annual average salary for the new jobs will be $72,176, according to the company. The average wage in the county is $60,195. The company has asked the Guilford County Board of Commissioners to provide up to $196,500 in performance-based economic incentives from the county’s General Fund. The commissioners will address that request on Thursday.

Change of Address: A housing complex on West Market Street had to be evacuated on Tuesday when city inspectors found multiple building and fire code violations. The building’s 180 residents, who regularly complained about problems at the building, will have to be relocated. UNCG is working to help find students who live in the building accommodations on campus, WXII reports.

Denied, Denied, Denied: State regulators have denied applications from all three Triad health systems—Cone Health, Novant Health, and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist—to acquire a multimillion-dollar fixed PET scanner. The Triad Business Journal has more.

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.