Local

By Megan V. Williams

Wilmington, NC – It happened in the gravel parking lot of a local Mexican restaurant a little after closing time. The last waiter to leave work that night stepped outside at the end of his shift and found himself facing a man with a gun.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – Some of the evacuated residents waited at the end of Buck Shot Road to find out when they could get back to their homes.

Sonya Garvey

As planes roared overhead dumping water on this second fire, Double Oaks Drive resident Sonya Garvey waited nervously inside her car.

By Megan V. Williams

Wilmington, NC – The fire started around 2 o'clock Wednesday afternoon, blackening 225 acres of pines and forcing the evacuation of roughly 20 homes before fire crews began to get control.

Strong winds out of the southwest drove embers across the containment lines in numerous places while helicopters and airplanes dropped water and fire retardant from the sky and several fire departments churned up the sandy soil in long firebreaks called 'potato patches.'

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – Fire officials are now saying Monday's woods fire in Pender County burned 1,100 acres. That's down from the 1,500 acre estimate.

An unofficial count of 83 firefighters and emergency officials along with an unknown number of volunteer firefighters, EMS, Red Cross and Salvation Army workers pitched into fight off the massive blaze and take care of both residents and firefighters.

By Catherine Welch and Megan Williams

Hampstead, NC – Just before sunset two planes circled the smoldering woods outside of Hampstead, as air tankers carrying hundreds of gallons of water cruised just over the heads of exhausted firefighters gathered at a makeshift camp.

Six hours after initial reports of a blaze in the woods off highway 210, the biggest wildfire in years was mostly under control.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – An environmental group working to halt a proposed landfill in Columbus County is holding a rally Friday evening at the county courthouse in Whiteville.

The plan is to build the 100 acre Riegel Ridge landfill south of Bolton.

Environmental group, Friends of the Green Swamp, says it's concerned about damage to the pristine and fragile swamp area that stretches across the Columbus, Brunswick County line. It's also concerned with truck traffic and pollution from seagulls.

By Megan Williams

Wilmington, NC – A lot can change in thirty years.

Especially if you're talking about growth in New Hanover County. But thirty years is how long its been since the region took a comprehensive look at its bus routes.

Now Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority's board of directors is weighing a new map that would spread routes more evenly across Wilmington and out into the county.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – Animal Control in Wilmington got a special delivery Thursday morning - a pony and two police officers.

Wilmington Police say at around 4:15 Thursday morning, they received a call that a horse was on the loose. Officers chased what turned out to be a pony and cornered him inside a fenced in lot.

A pair of officers walked the pony to Animal Control where the owner came to pick him up. Animal Control says the tan and white pony's name is Stormy.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – Members of the Lumbee Indian tribe were back on Capitol Hill Wednesday testifying in yet another hearing to gain full recognition.

Lumbee Indians have been fighting for full recognition for more than a century. Full recognition comes with business loans and clears the way for casinos on tribal land.

By Megan V. Williams

Wilmington, NC – It's an audacious idea -- to actually end a problem many see as an inevitable part of urban life. But that's exactly what a massive committee of government agencies, non-profit groups, and community leaders is currently working on: a plan to get all the region's homeless off the streets and into housing in the next ten years.