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On Thursday evening, New Hanover County commissioners approved the 2025-2026 budget in a party-line 3-2 vote. The budget, which came together on the eve of the agenda review meeting, is based on a 30.6-cent tax rate, and cuts $36 million from staff's earlier 35-cent version. To achieve that reduction, the budget makes significant cuts, eliminating funding for affordable housing and nonprofits, cutting funding for the Northside Co-op, scaling back pre-K and social workers, and removing roughly 100 positions, including 70 active employees. Commissioners debated budget priorities for hours before taking a tense vote, which had initially been slated for Monday's regular meeting next week.

After six months, state officials have finally released the autopsy for Heather Fennell, a 46-year-old teacher.

After some key staffing changes, Pender County has released its budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. WHQR's Nikolai Mather sat down with interim county manager Meg Blue to learn more.

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.

The first day of summer is Friday, June 20, which means it’s time for fun in the sun, but New Hanover and Pender County District Attorney Jason Smith wants to remind families to ‘look before you lock’ as temperatures rise.

The parents of a JV football player at Laney High School say their son was benched at the last moment before the season opener, replaced with a student whose family had recently made a significant donation to the school. Afterward, they say their son was iced out by coaches, who refused to explain their decision. The family filed a grievance, which went nowhere. While they were initially offered a chance to appeal to the school board, officials later changed their mind — as the parents ramped up their allegations against the administration.

From this week's Sunday Edition: WHQR News Director Benjamin Schachtman does a little housekeeping, with some notes on the Trump Administration's attack on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the growing pains of public-private partnerships, and the recent efforts to cut local budgets around the Cape Fear region.

An invasive species of algae is driving increases in mercury levels in the food chain. The algae is also contributing to erosion.

Images of oak trees being removed from the property on Wrightsville Avenue were shared by numerous residents, as well as by City Councilman Luke Waddell. According to the city, the tree removal plan — including several significant oak trees — was approved under an older land development code, and was exempted from stricter regulations that have been added since.