Local

By Megan V. Williams

Wilmington, NC – The group says its first priority is cleanliness - finding ways to deal with the empty beer bottles, cigarette butts, and worse that often litter downtown on weekend mornings.

They're also talking with Wilmington police about better controlling rowdy patrons by offering classes to bar employees to better recognize fake IDs and intoxicated people.

By Megan V. Williams

Wilmington, NC – If last week's public meeting was any indication, Pender County voters aren't shy about telling their Commissioners what they think of the county's redistricting proposal.

At least a hundred people turned out for that meeting, many speaking against plans to change how the county elects its board.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – State Representative Thomas Wright is calling the probe into his campaign finance records a calculated attack against him orchestrated by Democrats.

The State Board of Elections is investigating whether there are any criminal violations of the state's campaign reporting laws and has subpoenaed Bank of America for all of Wright's bank records.

The New Hanover County Democrat calls his campaign finance issues "minimal" compared to the orchestrated push to get him out of office.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – The North Carolina Coastal Federation received $400,000 to build an oyster shell, loading pier in Onslow County.

The pier will allow the Department of Marine Fisheries to load piles of oyster shells onto barges to make reefs out of the oyster shells. Coastal Federation Biologist Ted Wilgis says it's getting more difficult to find places along the coast to store and transport oyster shells.

By Megan V. Williams

Whiteville, NC – Last Thursday, the lead headline in the News Reporter read: Columbus County Commission Has No Rules. Flip below the fold and you'd find Commissioners Closed Session 'No Doubt' Illegal."

By Megan V. Williams

Whiteville, NC – From the closed meetings of County Commission subcommittees to thousands of pages of water rate adjustments, reporter Nicole Cartrette has spent the last ten months uncovering what some in Columbus County might prefer to have left alone.

Hear more from Cartrette about her work and ongoing politics in the county.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – There was a small sewage spill in Wilmington Monday near Hewlett's Creek. The city says a clog in an 8-inch pipe sent some 2,500 gallons of sewage into the road at Pine Grove Drive near Holly Tree Road, with a small amount believed to have trickled into the creek. The city says the pipe is not part of the troubled Northeast Interceptor.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – New Hanover County commissioners voted to strengthen a revision to a county ordinance making it illegal to leave a tethered dog and walk away.

Nearly every commissioner had a dog story of their own. And when it came time to vote, commissioner Bobby Greer shared his story about a family dog that would dig holes under the backyard fence and pondered what he could have done to protect that dog if he couldn't have leashed it up in the backyard.

By Megan V. Williams

Wilmington, NC – A tidal wave of information about Wilmington's sewer repair plans, and a new list of short-term fixes, sent state legislators back to Raleigh saying they feel reassured with local actions.

Wilmington and New Hanover officials called for the meeting after reading in the Star-News that their legislative delegation was discussing the pace of sewer repairs and possible state actions. On their side, legislators say they've been getting an earful from concerned constituents.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – North Topsail Police Chief Daniel Salese has been arrested.

The North Carolina Attorney General's Office says the State Buerau of Investigation arrested Salese Thursday on one count of misdemeanor larceny and one county of misdemeanor obstruction of justice.

In a released statement, the Attorney General's office says the Onslow County District Attorney's Office requested an investigation into the possible theft of $200 of town funds, and the arrest is the result of that investigation.