Local

By Megan V. Williams

Wilmington, NC – Author Jane Blanks Barnhill had to crawl through weeds and prod into the earth to find fallen stones in many of the small cemeteries she explored for her book, Sacred Grounds: Gone But Not Forgotten.

Barnhill says she became interested in publicizing Lumbee cemeteries after discovering her own great-great grandparents' graves in a remote plot on private land.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – Today's the day New Hanover County tax re-valuations go out to property owners across the county.

Numbers out of the county tax office show values went up 81% on average with coastal property going up even higher.

Officials report the average property value increasing 204% in Kure Beach, 190%in Carolina Beach, and 161% in Wrightsville Beach.

As the notices hit mailboxes, there's one key employee in the county tax office who isn't worrying about collecting all those taxes.

By Megan V. Williams

Wilmington, NC – Apartment searching is rarely fun. On a limited budget, it can be downright maddening.

A coalition pushing for affordable housing in New Hanover and Brunswick County wants to make the process a little easier with a new website.

The site contains apartment listings geared toward residents of modest means and includes information about whether units are priced on a sliding scale or are eligible for Section 8 vouchers.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – District Attorney Ben David has turned the Peyton Strickland shooting death case over to the state Attorney General's Office.

David says he could no longer handle the case because whatever action he took someone would see a conflict of interest.

Last December former New Hanover County deputy Christopher Long helped issue a warrant for Strickland when the teen was shot and killed inside the doorway of his Wilmington home.

By Megan V. Williams

Wilmington, NC – The Port City wants to create a new outdoor opportunity for its plodders, peddlers, and pavement-pounders.

Wilmington's planning a Cross-City Trail using new routes to link existing paths into a single paved trail starting at Halyburton Park and ending at Wrightsville Beach.

The trail will pass through city parks, school grounds, the Cameron Art Museum, and the University of North Carolina Wilmington, touching on many existing out-door recreation sites.

By Megan V. Williams

Wilmington, NC – Sinkholes in the parking lot of Wilmington's Hilton Riverside originally alerted city officials to a problem with the decades-old retaining wall that forms the riverbank.

But when divers slipped under the Cape Fear River, they got an eyeful, according to Construction Manager Dave Cowell. Cowell says they found two blocks of corroded metal, leaking soil into the river.

"So that if you strike it with a hammer, the hammer could penetrate... the wall. So it's life expectancy is not great."

By Megan V. Williams

Wilmington, NC – When Wilmington's new cranes arrived at the port dangling scraps of their bright yellow catwalks, no one's heart must have hurt more than Walter Taylor's. Taylor is the port's Crane and Heavy Lift Equipment Manager, and for two years, these cranes have been his babies. Taylor helped design everything from the operator cabs to those now-damaged walkways.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – The Coast Guard is investigating the collision that damaged four massive cargo cranes that were making their way to the Port of Wilmington.

The cranes were on the last stretch of a long journey that started near Shanghai, when somewhere between the Port of Wilmington and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge the vessel carrying four massive cargo cranes collided with a dredging barge.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – Nasty weather has put the brakes on the delivery of new port cranes, forcing the massive container cranes to hold off from making the last leg of their world tour.

The four, blue container cranes pulled out of a port just north of Shanghai December 4th and almost a month later made their way around the Cape of Good Hope.

Making good time the cargo cranes left the Port of Kingston on Sunday and arrived just off the coast from Southport at around 7:30pm Wednesday.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – After months of deliberation and debate the New Hanover County Planning Board approved a uniformed zoning plan for the west side of the Cape Fear River.

Wilmington and county planners rolled out the Riverfront Mixed Use District last year to create a uniform look and feel for future development.