Stimulus Package Swamping Free Tax Preparers

The lines form early in the morning on the third floor of New Hanover County's main library. By the time the doors open, the murmuring crowd resembles fans waiting for a geriatric rock concert.

Here, as tax preparer Kevin O'Grady put it, "is where the rubber meets the road" on the federal stimulus package...

Read the full story here.

New Hanover County And Strickland Family Settle

New Hanover County has settled with the family of Peyton Strickland for $2.45 million.

The county’s insurer will pay the nearly $2.45 million settlement with the county paying a $25,000 deductible.

The settlement will be presented to county commissioners at the March 10th meeting.

Read more about the settlement and hear Sheriff Sid Causey's taped statment
here.

UNCW Takes Inventory of Its Forest

University of North Carolina, Wilmington has announced that it will take inventory of the 140-acre forest on campus.

UNCW Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo says the move is in response to outrage that UNCW is planning to build dorms on 13 acres of long leaf pine forest currently used for research.

Read the full story
here.

Walking the Halls: Pender High School

Walking up to Pender High School where it stands, nearly alone alongside Highway 53, the scene can appear almost a little desolate.

Flat fields spread into the distance and a chilly wind sweeps past, rich with the smell of invisible hog farms. The life in this little collection of buildings is hardly apparent. But let the buzzer sound for break, and suddenly everything is chaos, action, noise...

Read or listen to the full story here.

City and Developers Debate Proposed Downtown Code

Historically-sensitive and pedestrian-friendly, or unrealistic and bad for business. Wilmington's planners and at least one developer see very different futures when they look at the city's proposed development code for downtown.

The draft land development code Wilmington will present at a public meeting tonight was designed by planners to give the city more control over how the central business district will develop in the coming decades, especially the rapidly growing north end around the PPD building...

Read the full story here.

__________

Public Input Meeting on the Central Business District Regulations:

Tuesday, February 26th

6:30 pm

Wilmington City Council Chambers

Thalian Hall

Rep. McIntyre Wants FISA Revisions

WILMINGTON, NC (2008-02-21) Representative Mike McIntyre says he wants Congress to strike a balance between individual privacy and national security when revising the new foreign surveillance law.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, regulates the government's ability to spy on Americans. McIntyre voted to extend a revised version of FISA for three weeks, but the extension was voted down.

Read the full story here.

NC NAACP President Wants Legislative Committee Stream

WILMINGTON, NC (2008-02-20) The head of the North Carolina NAACP says he wants lawmakers to stream legislative committee meetings online.

North Carolina NAACP President William Barber says too many bills die in committee and never make it to the floor for open discussion.

Read the full story here.

Burgaw PD Launces Senior Citizen Safety Program

WILMINGTON, NC (2008-02-19) The Burgaw Police Department is launching a program to check up on senior citizens.

The R U OK program will ask seniors who live alone or with disabilities to voluntarily call the police department once a day Monday through Friday. If they don't call, the police department will call them to make sure they're OK.

Police Chief Wayne Briley launched the project.

"We'll use this same listing for folks if we have another storm coming in. We can use it as a quick list to call these folks and say, Hey, look, you been watching TV? You know the storm is coming in?"

Briley says the Burgaw Police Department is accepting requests to be a part of R U OK. He says he hopes to start receiving calls by the beginning of next month.

Three Hotel Bids for Convention Center

At least three development companies are vying to build a hotel at Wilmington's convention center.


City officials had three bids in hand when the request for proposals closed at 5pm Monday. But the project's manager, Steve Bridges, says the city might consider any proposals that came in later in the night...

Read the full article here.

Backyard Bird Count On Again

For the next three days, birders across North Carolina will trade their binoculars for tally sheets, as they take part in the Backyard Bird Count.

Tens of thousands of people nationwide take part in the annual count, gathering information that environmental groups use to track everything from population declines, to the spread of invasive species...

Read the entire story here.

Statewide Burning Ban Reinstated

WILMINGTON, NC (2008-02-14) A state-wide burning ban kicked in at noon today.

Both Pender and Brunswick counties joined in by reinstating local burning bans, which apply to areas within 100 feet of occupied homes.

Read the full story here.

National Trust Names Wilmington a "Distinctive Destination"

WILMINGTON, NC (2008-02-13) The National Trust for Historic Preservation has named Wilmington as one of a dozen tourist destinations that have made significant efforts to preserve its cultural heritage.

The Trust chooses a dozen cities each year. Wilmington joins Asheville, Edenton, and Hillsborough as the fourth North Carolina city to receive the distinction.

Read the full story here.

Walking the Halls: West Brunswick High School

WILMINGTON, NC (2008-02-12) At West Brunswick High, Principal George Kelley makes all the important decisions. On this Friday, he's got to decide whether cheerleaders can fly.

"They throw them so high in the air, that it's just a matter of time before somebody gets hurt," says Kelley. "Then I wouldn't be able to live with myself when they get hurt."


Read the full story here.

Northwest Town Council Votes Against Landfill

WILMINGTON, NC (2008-02-11) The Northwest Town Council voted against the first step toward building Brunswick County's second construction and demolition debris landfill.

Read the full story here.

Fires Burn Across North and South Carolina

Firefighters in South Carolina are cleaning up smoldering patches of what was a massive wildfire that burned just outside Myrtle Beach Sunday. Hundreds of wildfires tore across both South and North Carolina this weekend.

Read the full story here.

UNCW Searching For New Provost

A search committee is in place at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington to find a new provost.

Paul Hosier announced Thursday that he is stepping down to return to teaching.

Read the full story here.

UNCW Student Group Wants Forest, Not Housing, on Campus

Plans by UNC-Wilmington to build more on-campus housing have run into opposition from a group of students concerned about the environmental cost...

Read the full story here.

Tonight's public meeting:

6:30 to 8:30 pm
Dobo Hall, room 134
UNCW campus

Northwest Landfill has Residents Concerned...

A new landfill may come to the Brunswick County town of Northwest and many residents say they don't want it.

The proposed landfill would contain construction and demolition debris and grow to more than 140 acres over twenty years. That site was originally considered for an affordable housing development...

Read the full story here.

Film Incentives One Victim of Shorfall

Film incentives are on the city of Wilmington's list of expenses to cut to make up for the more than $3.6 million dollar budget shortfall.

The city uses film incentives to attract new movie and television productions. So far the $500,000 is expected to be frozen through June...

Read the full story here.

New Hanover County Lays Out Budget Cuts

New Hanover County is cutting back on everything from new software, to new firefighters as it tries to find roughly $7 million to slash out of its budget.

County manager Bruce Shell describes the cuts as general 'belt-tightening'...

Find the full story here.

Wilmington Outlines Budget Cuts

Film incentives, business travel, and new road signs are all being slashed from this year’s Wilmington City budget, as officials try to make up for a nearly four million dollar shortfall.

The problem stems from an error in how New Hanover County calculated property tax revenues last year. State law requires governments to balance their budgets, so now Wilmington, with half the fiscal year to go, has to cut back the spending it approved in June...

Read the full article here.

Fines Increase for Coastal Development Violations

Starting today, developers and homeowners who violate North Carolina's Coastal Area Management Act will face higher penalties.

CAMA violations can range from building an unlicensed dock to dredging a waterway without a permit...

Read the full story here.