Ann McAdams
Investigative Reporter
Wilmington, NC
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Ann McAdams has worked in the Wilmington television market for more than 20 years. She graduated from Wake Forest University with a BS in Business in 2000, and accepted a job that summer as a general assignment reporter at WWAY. She later went on to serve as the station's evening anchor and investigative reporter.
In 2011, Ann joined the WECT news team as an investigative reporter and fill-in anchor.
Ann was born and raised in Winter Haven, Florida, but made North Carolina home after coming here for college. She is a mother of two.
When she is away from work, Ann enjoys tennis, reading, cooking, and getting together with family and friends. She and her family attend Wrightsville United Methodist Church. She loves to travel, and favorite destinations (so far!) have included Switzerland, Denmark, The Czech Republic, New York City, and Yellowstone National Park.
If you want to reach Ann, email her at: amcadams@wect.com
If you have a story you'd like WECT to investigate, e-mail: Investigate@wect.com
Awards:
8 RTDNAC Division II 1st Place Awards:
Investigative: 2021 (Cover Up Culture), 2015 (CFCC President Resigns), 2014 (Police Stingray Investigation), 2012 (Legislative Prison Transfer Requests), 2010 (Sen R.C. Soles Saga)
Consumer/Economic: 2021 (WECT Investigates: Private Elevator Accidents)
Social Reform: 2021 (Racist Letter Brings Neighborhood Together)
Education: 2020 (WECT Investigates: Late School Buses)
4 Associated Press Division II 1st Place Awards:
Investigative: 2009 (Sen. R.C. Soles Saga), 2004 (Crowded School Bus)
General News: 2004 (HOA Fines Family for Christmas Decorations)
Spot News: 2001 (Crew Survives Being Stranded at Sea)
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In North Carolina, sheriff’s department employees work at the pleasure of the sheriff, and sheriffs have wide latitude to fire employees for nearly any reason they want. An employee’s race is a notable exception.
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In the recording, Greene can be heard saying he’s going to start firing black people who are “guilty by f**king association” with the former African-American sheriff. Several black members in his department were fired or demoted, and he no longer has any minorities on his command staff.
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They are very powerful people. Nurses are scared to publicly question them. Doctors worry about losing their hospital privileges if they speak out against hospital administrators. But North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell isn’t backing down when it comes to challenging the executives in charge of the state’s largest hospital systems. He has called the hospitals “cartels...disguising themselves as nonprofits” while their CEOs rake in millions of dollars a year.
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For the first time since the issues began, executives from Novant granted WECT a sit down, in-person interview to discuss a wide range of concerns and what’s being done to address them.
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In August, Kenly Town Council voted to terminate Justine Jones after their entire police force and two town administrators resigned in protest of the difficult work environment they say she created there. That’s why town employees in Navassa were concerned when they saw Jones in their Town Hall, reportedly applying for the open Town Manager position.
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Despite a loud push for the dental board to require a separate anesthesiologist or certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) be present when a patient is sedated for dental procedures, the board declined to adopt that change. They have proposed several other changes aimed at improving patient safety.
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Simpson competed in the US Open back in the 1960s, which was no small feat for an African-American man in that era. He said he’s ecstatic about Tiafoe’s success.
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A paperwork error on a federal grant application may cost some low income residents with mental health issues their homes.
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The report goes on to detail what happened to more than a dozen other patients who also had bad experiences after visiting NHRMC in May and June. Most of those issues appear to be directly related to the severe nursing shortage at the hospital.
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Two months after reports surfaced that a woman had died in the Emergency Department waiting room at Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center after waiting for hours to be seen, federal regulators have released a report that appears to confirm that’s essentially what happened.
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A two-and-a-half year hiatus on jury trials in North Carolina thanks to the pandemic created a backlog of homicide cases that District Attorney Ben David is doing his best to work through. Remarkably under the circumstances, the cases aren’t particularly old.
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Silman says she has no doubt in her mind that Beatty killed her brother in July of 2015. While authorities never found a murder weapon, Silman says DNA evidence put Beatty at the scene of the crime, and an eyewitness identified Beatty as the shooter.
The Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services notified Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center in July it was in jeopardy of losing its Medicare contract if it did not address a number of serious “deficiencies” observed by state compliance officers.
"It is highly unusual. [First degree murder cases] are very, very difficult cases to defend... We have a very tough district attorney’s office with... very good trial lawyers. So if they want to paint a picture of a defendant being a truly bad guy, they’re gifted at it. So it makes it hard to do. It’s kind of a big feat,” said criminal defense attorney Bill Peregoy.
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Cape Fear Community College trustees reviewed the salaries of other community college presidents before voting on Morton’s raise July 21, but declined to share the salary survey they considered with WECT. For two weeks, the station’s investigative team worked to obtain a copy of the presidential salary document trustees looked over before making this big decision. CFCC officials refused the request.
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According to the warrants for his arrest, the victim was 12 years old and Rock was 32 at the time of the offense.
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WECT first contacted the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday night attempting to confirm the tip but did not receive a response. On Monday, District Attorney Jon David confirmed the attack and the SBI investigation.
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August 3rd marks two years since Henry Patel’s death. The beloved cardiologist was 53 years old when he died from being over-sedated during a routine dental procedure. On this difficult anniversary, Patel’s widow, Shital, is renewing her push for dental anesthesia reform. The North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners plans to consider a rule change to requirements for dental anesthesia and sedation at their meeting in September.
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“I’m expecting a phone call yesterday to tell me what time to show up for the surgery. And I get a phone call from Dr. Melin’s office, [saying] all surgery has been canceled because of short staff at the hospital,” Gary Rumbolo told WECT.
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A major portion of the lawsuit pursuing damages against boat owners at Southport Marina has been dismissed. The marina suffered catastrophic damage when Hurricane Isaias roared ashore in Brunswick County in August 2020. The docks came apart, and more than 100 boats moored at Southport Marina were set adrift in the wake of the storm.
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“He was so huge. We thought it was fake. My daughter was scared to pass him. But I had somewhere to go. I had somewhere to be. And I was like, ‘Well, you’ve got to go past the alligator.’ And when she drove past the alligator a couple of feet at a blink of an eye the alligator spins around so fast and opened his mouth up. It was like a movie. Like Lake Placid,” Carol Woollery recalled.
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It’s a $30,000 raise. Again. Cape Fear Community College President Jim Morton just got his second 10% raise in less than two years.
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North Carolina Treasurer Dale Folwell is speaking out about ongoing financial issues in the Town of Navassa, and has specific concerns with the person recently appointed to serve as the town’s finance officer. Folwell said he is worried that Navassa Town Councilman James Hardy, who is serving double duty as the town’s finance officer, perceives himself as “above the law.”
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A judge has declared a mistrial in the case of a man charged in connection to the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl. Authorities say six people were involved in the assault at a 2018 Halloween party in Carolina Beach.
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Wilmington City Councilman Luke Waddell traveled to Washington D.C., to testify before members of Congress on how inflation is impacting cities trying to complete planned infrastructure improvement projects, when the costs for many of those projects are far exceeding the expected price tag.
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The North Carolina Department of Labor (NCDL) has closed its case looking into conditions that contributed to a suspect’s escape from the custody of Pender County Sheriff’s deputies.
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Judge Gorham ruled that the school system’s failure to disclose that Kelly had previously been investigated for claims of sexual misconduct effectively stalled the clock from starting on the statute of limitations until 2019.
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To keep the case from going to court, the Sheriff has agreed to train officers on an annual basis to help officers recognize and best respond to certain dog behavior. As part of the settlement agreement, the department will also pay Benson $12,500, the approximate cost to acquire and train a new dog similar to Astro.
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Attorneys for the victims are opposed to any further delay, saying that the wait for justice has already been far too long for these young men. To underscore that point, they shared a video compilation with several of the former students who say Kelly abused them, and the mothers of two victims.
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The court found juvenile offenders must have "the opportunity to seek an early release afforded by the prospect of parole after serving no more than forty years of incarceration."
Thursday afternoon, hospital officials expanded on a previous statement responding to claims that a woman had died in the Emergency Room lobby after waiting for hours to be seen.
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Sources tell WECT the problem is not necessarily a shortage of beds at the hospital, but a shortage of nurses to staff those beds. Nurses say entire halls in the hospital have been blocked off for use because of staffing shortages.
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Decades after consuming contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune, victims who suffered adverse health effects may be allowed to recover monetary damages from the US Government. Federal lawmakers are trying to pass legislation to help former residents and workers on the Marine base who developed illnesses linked to tainted well water they consumed while living there.
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We’ve received a number of emails from employees at Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center, who are worried after hearing the hospital is terminating its contracts with travelling nurses at the end of this month.
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A law enforcement officer is being sued in federal court by the family of a person he killed while working as a Sheriff’s deputy in Duplin County. The same deputy, Jhon Dragocastano, later went on to shoot and kill a man after taking a job with the Pender County Sheriff’s Department.
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To hold the former police chief or other town officials criminally responsible for Cinotti’s actions, prosecutors would have to prove intent. Specifically, that they knew Cinotti was not qualified to be an officer and intentionally placed him in that role anyway.
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Eric Cinotti is now a convicted felon. Cinotti maintains his innocence, and entered an Alford Plea, allowing him to resolve the charges without admitting guilt.
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The district officially started fingerprinting new hires as part of its background check process. This comes at a time when the district is being sued for failing to stop teachers from sexually abusing students, despite warning signs and complaints from parents about concerning behavior by some teachers.
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Repeated vehicle collisions involving Pender County Sheriff’s patrol vehicles are putting a strain on an already limited fleet at the Sheriff’s Office. It’s also prompting questions about deputies’ driving skills, and the cost that all of these collisions are creating for tax payers.
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A detective for the Pender County Sheriff’s office is off the job tonight, after being criminally charged by Jacksonville Police.
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A wrongful death lawsuit against a Wilmington assisted living facility has been resolved outside the courtroom. In April 2021, the family of Garland Garrett filed suit against Spring Arbor after he was beaten so severely in his sleep that he died. The man who killed him was a fellow Spring Arbor resident suffering from dementia.
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The New Hanover County School Board Chair is having to crack down on people who exceed their time limit to talk during the public comment portion of school board meetings. Tuesday night, a woman who has repeatedly voiced critical comments about the school board - was removed from the meeting by deputies.
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New Hanover County School leaders are responding to criticism about a survey they conducted polling students on their experience with sexual harassment. The district wanted to get a better grasp on how often students were experiencing harassment in the wake of a teacher sex scandal.
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On Thursday, the NCDOL confirmed to WECT that 45-year-old William Walker is the employee who died on March 10th after being hit in the chin by the handle of a sledgehammer while working at the Archer Daniel Midland (ADM) plant.
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The Sheriff told the Department of Labor that no hazard exists due to the ongoing use of the K-9 vehicle as a backup patrol vehicle. He blames the escape on a lack of supervision by deputies, not inadequate equipment.
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Proutey was a Cape Fear Community College student, hoping to someday become an officer in the Marine Corps. On December 13, 2012, he was leaving work when three young men approached him in the parking lot demanding cash. He gave it to them, but they killed him anyway.
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Attorneys for the embattled chemical company Chemours are pushing back against a GenX Chemicals Toxicity Assessment issued last fall by the Environmental Protection Agency. The company says the EPA’s science is “flawed,” that GenX is being used to produce products that help the environment, and that GenX is essential to modern manufacturing.
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Despite the renewed concerns, there appears to be little to no progress in the plans to permanently fix the problem.
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Days after WECT reported on a botched arrest that led to a suspect’s escape, the North Carolina Department of Labor (NCDOL) wrote a letter to Pender County Sheriff Alan Cutler, asking him to review the use of K-9 vehicles to detain suspects.
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Shallotte Police have released the name of the woman found shot to death in her car on the side of the road March 25. The victim has been identified as 25-year-old Porsha Marie Lloyd. Police are still waiting for results from the State Crime Lab before they close the case, but are investigating the possibility the gunshot wound was self-inflicted.
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