Local

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – The North Carolina Beach Inlet and Waterway Association says while public access to beaches is improving, access to coastal waters is becoming a serious issue.

In its first report card for the North Carolina coast, the association handed out a D grade for public access to coastal waters.

Harry Simmons is the group's executive director and mayor of the southeastern coastal town of Caswell Beach.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – The North Carolina Beach Inlet and Waterway Association says while public access to beaches is improving, access to coastal waters is becoming a serious issue.

In its first report card for the North Carolina coast, the association handed out a D grade for public access to coastal waters.

Harry Simmons is the group's executive director and mayor of the southeastern coastal town of Caswell Beach.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – The deadline has passed to apply for the New Hanover County Planning Director's job. Former director, Dexter Hayes, retired at the beginning of this month.

As the search committee sorts through the applications there are other vacancies in the area of planning that the county will have to fill as well. WHQR's Catherine Welch reports.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – City Council member Bill Saffo is the new mayor of Wilmington. Without the presence of council member Laura Padgett, the city council tapped Saffo. It was a special meeting in council chambers that literally took minutes.

Less than ten minutes after calling the special meeting to order the City Council selected Bill Saffo to serve as the next mayor.

By Catherine M. Welch

Raleigh, NC – A slate of bills greeted members of the House back to Raleigh as the short session kicked off at around noon. And on this first day many lawmakers from the region focused on the word short in this session's moniker.

After a ceremony by the North Carolina Highway Patrol honor guard, members of the House got down to business introducing more than a dozen new bills, including ones to cut the gas tax, raise the state minimum wage and eliminate the new requirement of mandatory eye exams for kindergartners.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – While residents in some parts of Wilmington remain concerned about the impact Autumn Hall will have on traffic, Wilmington city planners say it's a good example of actually reducing congestion on major roads. And they point to a more established Wilmington neighborhood's road system as an example of what failing to plan for traffic can look like. WHQR's Catherine Welch explains.