Local

Our Annual Fundraising Luncheon on May 17th was a great success this year! Thank you to Steve Inskeep, host of Morning Edition for 15 years, who was a spectacular guest speaker. Thank you to our wonderful table hosts and guests who keep WHQR strong. Thank you to the hardworking staff at WHQR. And thank you, Wilmington, for continuing to value and support your local NPR station!

This week the Wilmington City Council will begin the process of approving its budget for the 2019-2020 fiscal year, which begins July 1st.  The city has a $200.6 million budget on the table. 

North Carolina has some of the highest childhood obesity rates in the country, according to the Centers For Disease Control.  That’s despite the fact that we know more about nutrition and healthy habits than ever.

This week in Washington, the House Committee on Energy & Commerce held hearings on 13 PFAS bills introduced in Congress. PFAS are toxic fluorinated chemicals, found in the Cape Fear River and across much of the country. The chemicals are linked to cancers and immune problems, according to the EPA. Now, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority has detected these chemicals in New Hanover County well water.

There’s a new ship docked at the Port City Marina in Wilmington this week. It’s a replica of the 15th century Santa Maria.  And it’s here to commemorate her original journey 527 years ago, when Christopher Columbus captained her in search of the New World. 

Why tear down a library? That was the most frequently-asked question from local citizens at the latest Project Grace public meeting. New Hanover County sponsored the session last Thursday to answer concerns about the three-acre county project bordered by Grace, Third, Chestnut and Second Streets. 

If you’re a person of color or ethnic minority, LGBTQ, a veteran, or a person with a disability, you might face a more dire cancer prognosis or struggle more with chronic disease than someone not in these groups.

That gap between what happens in the brain and and what comes out as behavior is the field of clinical neuropsychology.  Its application can range from diagnosing and treating military personnel to people suffering from Multiple Sclerosis or dementia. 

The fishing industry in Southeastern North Carolina came to a grounding halt when Hurricane Florence pounded the coast in mid-September. Since then, officials say, the industry has rebounded thanks in part to the Hurricane Florence Commercial Fishing Assistance Program.

Heather Heyer died in Charlottesville in 2017 while protesting white supremacy.   That was fifty years after civil rights leader and attorney Alan McSurely helped the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior shape the Poor Peoples’ Campaign – to help disenfranchised people of all races gain basic human rights.   

People socialize, research, shop, and entertain themselves online.  They read online.  So if the trend towards digital activity continues, are public libraries an endangered species? 

This week the proposed third bridge over the Cape Fear River, known as Cape Fear Crossing, was the topic of two public meetings. Hosted by the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the sessions highlighted the six proposed routes. 

New Hanover and Brunswick County Schools close tomorrow for the North Carolina Association of Educators’ Day of Action. Pender County Schools remain open – despite closing last year.  As WHQR reports, it’s the second year the two counties have closed schools while staff rally at the General Assembly. 

A public meeting about a proposed new crossing over the Cape Fear River gets underway Monday, April 29th at 5 PM -- as stakeholders in Brunswick and New Hanover County marshal their resources. 

April's Bottega Live features two Wilmington bands: Striking Copper and Jake Newman. 

WHQR's Bottega Live airs each month in conjunction with downtown Wilmington’s Fourth Friday Gallery Walk.

A dozen or so people, diverse in age, ethnicity, and political leanings, have agreed to be part of a year-long experiment in civil discourse.  Each month, we bring you a conversation with some members of the group.  Our aim:  to observe whether the tone and quality of the conversation changes as they get to know one another over the course of the year. 

Frank Stasio has hosted The State of Things, WUNC’s public affairs program, since 2006.   

Project Grace is now the subject of a planned public forum in May.  Just two weeks ago, New Hanover County officials yanked the controversial proposal to renovate an entire Wilmington city block from a Board of Commissioners meeting agenda after loud protests from opponents.  But Monday's County Commission meeting yielded a surprise new development.

[SOUND OF BABY CRY AND MICHAEL TITTERTON'S INTRODUCTION].

Those are the first sounds and the first voice heard on WHQR when it came to life on 91.3 FM 35 years ago.

Geneticists say human DNA is 99.9% the same.  Identical.  

In Navassa, the old U.S. Marine Plant along the Cape Fear River that once built boats has a new life. After 11 years of standing vacant, the 336,000 square foot facility will be home to a manufacturing company with approximately 300 employees.  North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper made the announcement Friday morning.

Hari Kondabolu is on at least a double mission – although they are connected.  

[Hari's voice from a Tumblr post:]  "Hari Kondabolu.  Hari... Kondabolu."

He calls this The Galifianakis.  On this edition, we find out why.  But he says his big goal is making people laugh...

[intro to Netflix comedy special, Warn Your Relatives]

A bill filed this week in the North Carolina legislature could impact the water quality of the Cape Fear River. House Bill 560 would ban PFAS and other perfluorinated compounds from the firefighting foams used near airports and in industrial areas around the state. It has co-sponsors on both sides of the aisle. 

The process for getting a special use permit in Wilmington has changed. Last night the City Council voted to streamline the procedure and remove a step. The new rule means applicants will not have to appear before the planning commission.