Ben Schachtman
News DirectorBen Schachtman is a journalist and editor with a focus on local government accountability. He began reporting for Port City Daily in the Wilmington area in 2016 and took over as managing editor there in 2018. He’s a graduate of Rutgers College and later received his MA from NYU and his PhD from SUNY-Stony Brook, both in English Literature.
He and his wife met and were married in Wilmington; they returned to the area after nearly a decade in New York City.
Your can reach him at Bschachtman@whqr.org and on Twitter @Ben_Schachtman
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This week, New Hanover County took another step forward with Project Grace, its plan to combine private development with a new library and museum in downtown Wilmington. -
Recently, Chemours has been running a series of television ads, touting themselves as 'good neighbors' — sparking fierce pushback from local leaders, as well as local news station WECT, which noted it was not responsible for the ad content that airs during broadcasts and shared the feedback it had received from disgusted viewers.
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Years of committees, surveys, and studies culminated in a big push for a $50 million housing bond — with elected officials, advocates, and developers all seemingly on board. Then, the idea abruptly died, killed in part by political concerns about raising taxes during an election season. So — now what?
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Years of committees, surveys, and studies culminated in a big push for a $50 million housing bond — with elected officials, advocates, and developers all seemingly on board. Then, the idea abruptly died, killed in part by political concerns about raising taxes during an election season. So — now what?
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At last Thursday’s Cape Fear Community College Board of Trustees meeting, board member Deborah Dicks Maxwell asked President Jim Morton about creating a new equity position — Morton didn't seem interested.
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A video posted on social media claims to show a Wilmington Police Department cruiser driving dangerously in an abandoned parking lot during the ice storm that struck the region this weekend; WPD says this is now a 'personnel issue' and is being investigated.
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The National Weather Service Wilmington has issued an ice storm warning for the Cape Fear region. Here’s what you need to know, including closings for local governments.
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Week of Jan. 17: Ice storm! Plus, Castle Street proposal fades away, duking it out over masks, againOn this abbreviated episode — we both had to prepare for the coming ice storm — we get the latest on the long-running, unsuccessful attempt to redevelop the former WAVE transit depot on Castle Street, plus the county's health board revisited masks, again, with confusing results.
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New Hanover County recently committed $3.7 million in Covid-relief funding to a new Pandemic Operations team it's calling 'PanOps.' In addition to helping relieve county staff of the extra, covid-related workload they've been carrying for nearly two years, the PanOps team will have to face new and evolving challenges, as well.
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After a two-hour meeting which saw, at times, tense debate between board members, the New Hanover County Health and Human Services Board voted 5-5 to nix a mask mandate; the split vote means no mandate will be instituted.
