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This week researchers from North Carolina State University released new findings in a study of PFAS contaminants in the blood samples taken from Wilmington volunteers. 

Three Wilmington police officers have been fired from the force for violating Department policy concerning inappropriate language.  Chief Donny Williams confirmed the move at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. 

As the decision draws near on the Medical Center’s future, the Partnership Advisory Group resumed its in-person meetings last night at the Burney Center on the UNCW campus. 

A survey of 667 New Hanover County residents—commissioned by the  Save Our Hospital Group and conducted last week—shows a range of concerns about the sale of the Regional Medical Center. 

It was 11 months ago that New Hanover County announced they were going to explore selling the Regional Medical Center.  Last week, county officials and residents heard from the top three candidates under consideration.

In the wake of George Floyd’s death, the protests began in Wilmington on May 30 with a gathering at 1898 Memorial Park. The next day, they moved to the steps of Wilmington City Hall. Every day and night since, people have gathered with signs protesting racism and police brutality.  One voice has stood out from the crowd. 

It was three years ago this weekend that the story broke...there are chemical contaminants in the Cape Fear that are also in our drinking water.  WHQR’s Vince Winkel has been following the story from the beginning.  He looks back over what’s happened...and where we are today.

Two demonstrations in Wilmington over the weekend. Both were about George Floyd – the black man killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis last week. Saturday afternoon’s was peaceful. Sunday evening’s turned into a confrontation. Just before 10 pm, Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo declared a state of emergency and put a curfew in place until 6 am Monday morning.  WHQR’s Vince Winkel was at both events and filed this report.

Over the weekend, protests continued all across the country over the death of George Floyd, the unarmed black man who died from the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer. At least fifteen states and the District of Columbia have either activated or requested the National Guard to assist local law enforcement. In Wilmington, the Saturday demonstration at 1898 Memorial Park was peaceful. 

It was a holiday weekend and the official start of summer, and for residents of coastal Carolina it was back to beaches as usual. In two weeks or so, we’ll know if the celebration was premature. 

The May Edition of Bottega Live features some superb singer-songwriter talent. We kick off the show with the duo of Madonna Nash and Chris Cole. The second half of the show features Sarah Brown. WHQR's Bottega Live airs each month in conjunction with Wilmington’s Fourth Friday Gallery Walk, at 8 pm on that Friday.

Gov. Roy Cooper has announced that Phase 2 of the reopening will begin Friday afternoon. Restaurants and salons will be able to open at a limited capacity, but bars, gyms, and movie theaters will remain closed. That isn’t what a lot of people had expected. 

Hurricane season officially starts June 1. And the 2020 Atlantic season is forecast to be more active than usual, according to the National Hurricane Center. Some are even calling for an “extremely active” season. New Hanover County is preparing for the worst. 

On Friday, Phase 1 of North Carolina’s coronavirus recovery plan went into effect. That meant that retail businesses across the state could begin to reopen.  A lot of shoppers were out this weekend.

At its Thursday meeting, the Partnership Advisory Group, charged with recommending a future for New Hanover Regional Medical Center, narrowed its focus from the six submitted proposals to three it believes are worth further consideration.  

Friday at 5 p.m. Phase 1 of Governor Roy Cooper’s reopening plan will take effect. The biggest change is that a wider range of retail stores will be allowed to open. Stores will still need to limit shoppers to 50% of capacity, and maintain sanitary and social distancing. This phase is set to last for at least two weeks. 

At least anecdotally, it seems that a few months of isolation has triggered a need for human contact. Old friends are connecting after years of being out of touch.  Have you heard from an old friend lately? 

Six proposals were made public last week regarding the future of New Hanover Regional Medical Center. A group opposed to selling the facility, Save Our Hospital, did not like what it saw.  WHQR’s Vince Winkel spoke with the organization’s President, Gene Merritt.

Cities, counties and states are moving at different speeds when it comes to lifting restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. That can create problems between neighboring states... like North and South Carolina. 

On Tuesday New Hanover County published online the six proposals it received regarding the possible future of New Hanover Regional Medical Center. County Commissioners are slated to decide on one of the proposals, or not, later this year. The proposals range from $1.25 to over $3 billion.

Because of COVID-19 and social distancing regulations, theaters and concert halls are closed across most of the country. Here in the Cape Fear region all music venues, theaters, and galleries are shuttered. So painters and musicians are going virtual. WHQR visits with one artist who’s doing both.

In North Carolina schools are closed, and for many the school year appears to be over. That means thousands of high schoolers in the Cape Fear region are at home. Many use Zoom for lectures, and email to turn in assignments. Their parents juggle work, if they still have a job, with helping their kids. WHQR  checks in with one Wilmington family.

Joshua Johnson is the Host of 1A, the successor to the long-running and hugely popular Diane Rehm show.  Before his move to the nation’s capitol, he lived in San Francisco, where he served as KQED’s morning newscaster. 

Our guest on this edition of CoastLine holds the title of Special Correspondent at NPR.  But if you’re an All Things Considered listener, you will probably recognize her voice as the one paired with Robert Siegel – for more than a decade -- from 2003 to 2015. 

You know, sometime you have one of those weeks when everyone thinks you're just swell. . . Yeah, this is not one of those weeks. Listener Len in Ocean Isle Beach wrote: "I will never contribute to NPR again. . . Your news reporting for the past year never revealed the facts of the sources of the stalemates on Capitol Hill, of the depth and breadth of the Obama successes, and the sources of his oppositions, and of the depth and breadth of Hillary Rodham Clinton's proposed programs. You only reported Trump's proclamations, and on Clinton's emails, a trumped-up year of falsehood.

Listener Beverly wrote on Monday: "Cokie Roberts is just the latest NPR commentator offending my husband and me. We listen to NPR for news. We do not listen for an individual commentator's personal assessment.

“To be biased without even realizing it...for example, in asking a leading question...is sometimes understandable. Cokie makes no excuses for imposing her opinions. Whatever happened to journalistic principles? Is she not a journalist? She seems to be a lifelong politician which is contrary to the Jeffersonian principle of public service by citizens across the board as citizen duty...not public/political careers.