Rachel Keith

North Carolina Marine and Estuary Foundation has allocated about half a million dollars to researchers at UNC Chapel Hill to investigate why two prominent local watersheds — Bradley Creek and Hewletts Creek — continue to have high fecal coliform levels. WHQR brought in Chad Thomas, who leads the nonprofit. He worked as a fishery scientist for the North Carolina Resources Commission for 30 years.

Patients of Wilmington Health’s urology department started receiving letters last week informing them that this medical practice was “suspending operations” effective August 31.

On this edition of The Newsroom, author Lauren Collins joins us to talk about her newest book: They Stole A City: Wilmington’s White Supremacist Coup and the Families Who Live with its Legacy, a project that took her a decade to write.

For the first time in 30 years, the Upperman family isn’t awarding any new scholarships at UNCW. Linda Upperman Smith said the way the university wanted to rewrite the language around the application wouldn’t have been in line with her father’s wishes.

Last year, the Museum of Coastal Carolina agreed to take part in the ship speed monitoring system during the endangered right whale calving season. The technology was installed through a partnership between the federal agency, NOAA, and Maritime Information Systems, Incorporated.

This past weekend, Hoggard High School valedictorian Kyler Hosek signed off his graduation speech with an apparent nod to Kanye West. Although he did not name the disgraced rapper, he closed with the words, “As my biggest inspiration once said, ‘Every human being has something of value that they bring to the table.”

Last month, the UNCW Faculty Senate officially voted to dissolve the Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. That committee was officially a part of the Senate’s bylaws, so the vote required a two-thirds majority. While the meeting minutes only mentioned that the motion carried, a university spokesperson said the vote was 58-5.

On this episode, Rachel Keith sits down with Ray Funderburk III, who recently settled with Cape Fear Community College three years after he was ousted from its board of trustees. Plus, Kelly Kenoyer talks with UNCW economist Mouhcine Guettabi about potential economic impacts of a toll bridge over the Cape Fear River, which is looking increasingly likely.

This academic year, Cape Fear Community College has added ‘student success rates’ into the formal evaluation for instructors — it’s also how they are assessing some instructors who apply to work there.

In a couple of weeks, NHCS Superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes will be presenting the district’s budget to the public, and it involves making some tough decisions. He’s identified about $2.5 million in additional needs but he says he can reduce that amount, if needed, down to $485,445. Barnes also discussed factors contributing to declining student enrollment, transparency surrounding the Opportunity Scholarship program, the proposed $320.5 million school bond, and bringing back more preschool classrooms.