Democratic Gov. Josh Stein signed eight bills into law on Thursday — including a Republican-backed bill limiting state child abuse protections for transgender youth and adoptees.

Federal and state officials have declared war on DEI at North Carolina’s colleges and universities. But what their orders mean is sometimes far from clear.

Last week, masked agents in unmarked vehicles were posted in front of a local distribution business, leaving some residents concerned about just how hard ICE crackdowns may hit our community.

Tuesday night, the New Hanover County Democratic Party held a straw poll to decide which candidates they’ll support in the Wilmington City Council and Mayoral elections. The outcome, like the poll itself, was controversial for some, as WHQR’s Kelly Kenoyer and Ben Schachtman report.

On Thursday, the House passed a bill recognizing the Gullah Geechee Heritage Trail, a proposed plan to connect several Gullah Geechee landmarks in Brunswick County with a greenway. Advocates say the legislation brings them one step closer to making that plan a reality.

The Endowment announced on Tuesday that it will award funding to organizations supporting community education, family support, food access, housing, infrastructure, and community health.

On Monday evening, dozens of residents came to the New Hanover County NAACP’s public meeting called ‘SAVE Mary Washington Howe Pre-K Center.’ They appealed to the superintendent and four school board members, who were in attendance, to reject the proposed closure of the predominantly Black and Hispanic school.

The county’s new budget cuts nearly $10 million in positions, freezing dozens of vacant positions and eliminating 70 active positions, which the county will accomplish through retirement incentives and three rounds of layoffs.

From this week’s Sunday Edition: WHQR News Director Benjamin Schachtman on the coverage of former New Hanover County Schools superintendent Dr. Tim Markley — and how WHQR covers the deaths of local community figures in general.

Saturday marks the one-year anniversary for the Supreme Court’s landmark Grants Pass v. Johnson decision, which solidified a local government’s right to ban the unhoused from camping on public property.