Rachel Keith

More than 50 educators across North Carolina came to Wilmington to participate in four days of professional development, called “Harbors of Democracy.” Some of the sessions were about military service and civic responsibility, but one of the main topics for exploration was the deadly 1898 Wilmington coup, where White supremacist leaders forced the multi-racial city government to give up their seats at gunpoint.

On Tuesday evening, the New Hanover County school board voted 5-2 to approve a new board ethics policy. Libertarian member David Perry and Democratic member Dr. Tim Merrick dissented, arguing that some of the provisions in the new policy were either vague or could be used as a punitive measure against a member in the future. The board also voted down a resolution on a new way to store student data, brought forth by Perry.

The last week in July, UNC Chapel Hill’s Carolina K-12 program hosted a professional development program in Wilmington called “Harbors of Democracy” for educators across the state. For some of the sessions, they listened to state and local historians on how the media was used to foment violence during the Wilmington 1898 coup and massacre – and to subsequently cover up the truth of what happened. They also learned that some historical remnants from that time are at risk of being lost.

This week, on The Newsroom, reporters Sofia Dinka and Kelly Kenoyer dig into the current status of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, after a private company's bid got rejected last month. While the specifics for the replacement aren't nailed down, a toll bridge is looking more and more likely. We'll look at the history of 1898 with Reporter Rachel Keith and how it was framed by the media at the time. She attended an educator's summit in Wilmington that made that history come alive. And we'll look at Kelly Kenoyer's top stories in the past five years before she leaves WHQR and Wilmington.

This sea turtle nesting season, there have been over 40 loggerhead nests laid on Masonboro Island. WHQR recently traveled with scientists and volunteers to visit a nest that was laid in June.

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.

WHQR dug into campaign finance reports for 18 candidates vying for spots on the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners and Board of Education, along with seats in the state House of Representatives and Senate. This report takes a look at the roughly $2.5 million raised among the dozen and a half candidates, where their money is coming from, and what they're spending it on so far.

WILMINGTON — Port City Daily's media partner, WHQR, dug into campaign finance reports for 18 candidates vying for spots on the New Hanover County

On this episode, WHQR's Benjamin Schachtman and Rachel Keith dig into the latest season of the Scene on Radio podcast. .Co-hosts John Biewen and

Back in February, the City of Wilmington's Board of Adjustment voted unanimously to grant a variance so that the developers of the Wilmington Housing Authority's Hillcrest community could cut down six live oaks, some of which are over a hundred years old; however, some in the community are still campaigning to save them since shovels haven't hit the ground yet.