Local

By Carrie Wellman

Wilmington, NC – A program promoting carpooling in Wilmington will get thousands of dollars from the state to encourage alternative forms of transportation.

With the help of new state funding, Wilmington Cape Fear Breeze program hopes to get more drivers using alternative transportation.

Breeze coordinator Lawless Bean says the program has a comprehensive website offering a carpool database.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – Police at Wrightsville Beach are cracked down on littering and drinking alcohol on the beach.

Town officials past measures last week giving police authority to make random sweeps to enforce littering laws and check for alcohol consumption, which is prohibited on the beach.

Town manager Bob Simpson calls excessive littering a brewing problem that came to a boil after the 4th of July weekend.

Wilmington, NC – The U.S. Maritime Administration retired the two ships. The Cape Lobos left the region Friday. The Cape Lambert will follow in early August.

The ships are part of the government's Ready Reserve fleet. They're known as roll-on, roll-off' vessels: ramps in the stern allow them to load and unload vehicles. But the ships can't handle the latest generation of tanks. Instead of upgrading, they're going into retirement in Beaufort, Texas. The ships may still be called up for emergencies.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – The Pender County Sheriff's Department has landed a water patrol vessel on loan to boost patrols on county waterways.

For the next four months deputies will be able to pull out the Jet Ski for law enforcement during busy weekends.

Major Keith Hinkle with the Pender County Sheriff's Department says the department usually turns to coastal law enforcement and Pender County Rescue squads during emergencies and sometimes on deputies' grab their own boats.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – The state has lifted its swimming advisory for a stretch of the Cape Fear River.

The Division of Water Quality issued a swimming advisory a week ago for the Cape Fear River from Wilmington to Keg Island.

The advisory came after a sewer pipe broke in Wilmington near the river. All in all nearly 4.8 million gallons of wastewater spilled from the River Road sewage pipe, half of that into the Cape Fear River.

Wilmington, NC – The crowd filled every available space in the Council chambers, and lined the balcony. Everyone from family members to aggrieved firefighters turned out for the transfer of power at last night's City Council meeting.

Wilmington, NC – Broadhurst's two-and-a-half years as mayor officially come to an end at tonight's City Council meeting. Looking to the future, Broadhurst said he expects the council to continue functioning efficiently, and not just in terms of shorter council meetings.

Bald Head Island, NC – Scientists hope to fit four of Bald Head's nesting loggerheads with data transmitters to learn more about where the turtles travel, and the potential hazards they face. For the next year or more, the transmitters will send back signals as the turtles range north and south through the seasons.

According to sea turtle researcher Dr. Michael Coyne, there has long been debate about whether or not commercial fishing has an impact on the loggerheads.

Southport, NC – Officer John Michael Szendry was the first back-up on the scene after Darrell Wayne Maness killed Boiling Springs police officer Mitch Prince in January of 2005. Szendry was also fired on by Maness, but was uninjured.

After the murder, Szendry left the force on extended medical leave. Southport Chief of Police J.V. Dove says Szendry committed suicide in his home last Friday.

Dove nicknamed Szendry 'the Crusader' and described him as a committed officer before the night of Prince's murder.