Rachel Keith

The New Hanover County Board of Education made its curriculum ban on a book permanent Tuesday, defying a district committee, whose members all agreed the book should be returned to the classroom, with some saying it should be accompanied by another work to balance its perspective.

The recent county budget reductions including almost $1 million in cuts to pre-K funding. NHCS Superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes gave the board seven options to address the shortfall, but endorsed only three of them — some with caveats.

WHQR News Director Ben Schachtman and reporter Kelly Kenoyer unpack some of our recent reporting about Novant NHRMC: staff interviews and watchdog data show some concerning trends at the hospital, but the newest leadership team says things are improving. And, Rachel Keith helps explain FERPA, the federal law protecting student privacy, and how it might be overused to protect public information, including parental book challenges.

This question arose after New Hanover County Schools redacted the name of the parent challenging Blended — something the district didn't do with the parent challenging Stamped. This inconsistency is seen across North Carolina school districts as well.

UNCW’s Marine Mammal Stranding Program is celebrating the sighting of an orca named ‘Old Tom’ off the coast of North Carolina this year—but it’s also sounding the alarm about the status of the North Atlantic right whale, whose populations continue to decline. The network also wants to remind the public how to help scientists respond to marine mammal sightings, which include manatees, dolphins, whales, and seals.

Recently, two cetacean bodies, a bottlenose dolphin and a whale, were tampered with, and the federal law enforcement arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is investigating. Local scientists have the resources to respond to these cases because of federal regulations, such as the Endangered Species and Marine Mammal Protection Acts. These laws help to protect these animals, but the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress are signaling possible changes to them, and the funding goes along with it, which researchers say is cause for concern.

On Monday, Deputy Secretary for NC Medicaid Jay Ludlam informed providers working with the Healthy Opportunities Pilot (HOP) to stop services on July 1. Officials say they have no choice because there's no funding in either the state Senate or House budget proposals.

On Tuesday, New Hanover County school board members got a brief update about New Hanover High School. The assistant superintendent for operations said the plans wouldn't be released to the public until after the design team made tweaks based on private meetings with school board members and county commissioners.

Summer is here, and families can enjoy an array of public pools in New Hanover County. The City of Wilmington owns three public pools, and the county owns one at Echo Farms, but some in the community are advocating for more accessible hours.

Last Friday, May 23, students, parents, and community members joined the 6th bike bus for the International School at Gregory, forming a giant chain of cyclists, and the group wants to expand the number of rides — and riders for the upcoming school year.