Local

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – The thought of thumbing through hundreds of pages of city planning doesn't exactly spark excitement and passion.

So Wilmington's planning department decided to convert its vision of what the city could be in 20 years into a film that's now running on the city's cable channel.

WHQR sat down with Director of Planning Services Wayne Clark to talk about the film.

By Majsan Bostrom

Wilmington, NC – Vernell's Dressing (Stuffing)

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – Dozens of volunteers from across the region are spending their Thanksgiving helping residents in Biloxi, Mississippi with the rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina.

Last August WHQR introduced you to Murrie Lee, a resident who with his wife has made numerous trips to Biloxi.

WHQR's Catherine Welch caught up with Murrie Lee before he left to talk about his work there.

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – Two block from the Gulf of Mexico, dozens of volunteers pile into First United Methodist Church. Wilmington resident Murrie Lee is one of the volunteers, he's on his 6th mission trip to Biloxi.

By Megan V. Williams

Wilmington, NC – Although skies were clear over eastern part of the state by Friday, the worst of this week's storm may still be to come.

The National Weather Service predicts rain from the nor'easter will swell the Lumber River over flood stage Thursday tonight, peaking near 15 feet. And the Northeast Cape Fear isn't expected to crest until Monday, topping out just below major flood stage near Burgaw.

By Megan V. Williams

Kure Beach, NC – The blaze started around 2:30am in a building of the Ocean Dunes condominium complex on the west side of Highway 421.

By the time firefighters arrived, gusty wind and the wooden structure meant there was little to do but keep flames from spreading to nearby units.

There were no injuries from the fire and all year-round residents in the multi-unit building are accounted for.

By Gary Popp and Megan V. Williams

Wilmington, NC – More stormy weather in the forecast for the coming days encouraged crews to push ahead with late night repairs, despite steady rain.

Crews installed a permanent stainless steel band over the three-inch-wide hole, which had opened up in a previously-repaired section of the pipe.

This portion of the Northeast Interceptor has had trouble in the past, and one resident in the surrounding neighborhood says he just wants to see the leak-prone pipe fixed for good.

Wilmington, NC – Bad, but not as bad as they'd feared, is the assessment of Public Utilities Director Hugh Caldwell after repair crews got a look at the break which opened up in the Northeast Interceptor sewer Sunday.

However, crews working early in the morning were unable to finalize their repairs, leaving raw sewage still leaking into a tributary of Hewlett's Creek.

The city hopes to complete repairs early Tuesday morning, although Caldwell says that's dependent on the forecasted rainy weather holding off.

By Megan V. Williams

Wilmington, NC – All day Sunday, there was little the city could do to keep raw sewage from gushing into Hewlett's Creek.

Low-flow alarms identified the sewer break Sunday morning, but because there is no back-up system for the Northeast Interceptor, the city had to put off repairs until after midnight Monday - when residents create the least amount of wastewater.

By Catherine Welch and Megan Williams

Riegelwood, NC – Residents of Riegelwood say almost everyone in the tornado-ravanged neighborhood was related or knew each other.

The storm tore apart dozens of mobile homes and houses in it's mile-long path of destruction, killing eight people, including two children. Twenty others, including four more children, were injured, some critically.