Zach Solon
Multi-Media Journalist
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Zach joined the WECT team in January 2021 as a reporter and weekend anchor.
Originally from Montvale, New Jersey, Zach attended the University of Maryland and graduated in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. While in college, Zach interned at SiriusXM and reported for UMD’s Capital News Service, covering stories in and around Washington, D.C.
Zach’s passion for local news coverage has led him here to Wilmington. He looks forward to learning, making new connections, and telling important stories.
Outside of the newsroom, Zach enjoys cooking, watching sports, and playing in a Wiffle Ball league with his friends.
Have a story idea? You can email Zach at Zach.Solon@wect.com and find him on Twitter @zachsolon or Facebook @ZachSolonWECT
Updated: Mar. 24, 2023 at 5:38 PM EDT
|By Zach Solon and WECT Staff
“Eliminating strong background checks will allow more domestic abusers and other dangerous people to own handguns and reduces law enforcement’s ability to stop them from committing violent crimes,” Cooper said in a statement.
Updated: Mar. 23, 2023 at 6:19 PM EDT
|By Zach Solon
During a visit to Winter Park Elementary School in Wilmington Thursday, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper pushed for higher investment in education and pay raises for teachers as part of his proposed budget for next year.
Updated: Mar. 22, 2023 at 6:19 PM EDT
|By Zach Solon
The North Carolina House of Representatives voted Wednesday to expand Medicaid eligibility for close to 600,000 people statewide.
Updated: Mar. 22, 2023 at 11:05 AM EDT
|By Zach Solon
Classical Charter Schools claims in a statement that the ACLU is trying “’to drive a wedge’ between school families and administrators ‘with trumped-up charges’ of discrimination and civil-rights violations.”
Updated: Mar. 17, 2023 at 5:49 PM EDT
|By Zach Solon
Without proper drainage systems, just a few inches of rain could be enough to cover Whiteville’s roads with water.
Updated: Mar. 16, 2023 at 6:06 PM EDT
|By Zach Solon
A decades-old family-owned newspaper in Carolina Beach has ceased publication.
Updated: Mar. 16, 2023 at 5:48 PM EDT
|By Zach Solon
“DJ STRONG” is the message posted around Laney High School and painted on the large rock outside the front entrance.
Updated: Mar. 15, 2023 at 5:23 PM EDT
|By Zach Solon, Carl Blankenship and Ben Schachtman
Local government finances are public record, but getting specifics can be easier said than done.
Updated: Mar. 14, 2023 at 5:33 PM EDT
|By Zach Solon
The opioid epidemic continues to impact thousands of North Carolina residents and their families.
Updated: Mar. 14, 2023 at 11:11 AM EDT
|By Zach Solon and WECT Staff
Dubbed the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation by the EPA, it would set legally enforceable limits on the amounts of PFAS in drinking water.
Updated: Mar. 13, 2023 at 6:31 PM EDT
|By Zach Solon
Two of the largest bank failures in United States history have happened since last Friday, with Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank each collapsing.
Updated: Mar. 9, 2023 at 6:10 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Former Cape Fear Community College Trustee Ray Funderburk says Wednesday’s meeting to discuss his removal from the CFCC Board of Trustees was unfair.
Updated: Mar. 7, 2023 at 6:29 PM EST
|By Zach Solon and WECT Staff
A feasibility study and economic analysis are currently under way to determine how the county and town would pay for the baseball stadium portion of the development.
Updated: Mar. 3, 2023 at 5:12 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
North Carolina’s state senators voted this week to legalize medical marijuana. Senate Bill 3, also known as the Compassionate Care Act, will now go to the house, where a similar bill failed to get a vote last year.
Updated: Mar. 2, 2023 at 5:52 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
State investigators determined that Port City Pest misused a product after reports that people found dead birds near Wrightsville Beach.
Updated: Mar. 2, 2023 at 11:27 AM EST
|By Zach Solon and WECT Staff
Officials with the Wilmington International Airport discussed their 5-Year Vision Plan at a news conference on March 2, along with a contract with Faber to bring Dunkin’ and Jimmy John’s to the airport.
Updated: Mar. 1, 2023 at 5:54 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Dry and windy weather conditions across southeastern North Carolina have prompted fire officials to caution against starting fires in your yard.
Updated: Feb. 28, 2023 at 6:47 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Members of a far-right extremist group called the Proud Boys have attended several New Hanover County Board of Education meetings in recent months.
Updated: Feb. 27, 2023 at 6:11 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Wilmington City Council voted 6-1 last week to approve spending $2.1 million from the city’s general fund to settle a lawsuit brought by Funk Yard, LLC, a company managed by Peter Koke.
Updated: Feb. 24, 2023 at 6:27 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Built in 1871, Giblem Lodge was Wilmington’s first African-American Masonic Lodge.
Updated: Feb. 24, 2023 at 6:05 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
The Port City’s own Ann Marie Pierce hopes to take her skills to the next level at Saturday’s Wilmington Marathon.
Updated: Feb. 22, 2023 at 6:22 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
A day on the beach can sometimes be interrupted by pesky pigeons and other birds. Pest control is a common practice for beachfront businesses.
Wilmington City Council approves spending more than $2 million to settle lawsuit with local business
Updated: Feb. 21, 2023 at 5:49 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
During a scheduled meeting Tuesday night, Wilmington City Council members approved an ordinance 6-1 to allocate $2.1 million to settle a lawsuit with Funk Yard, LLC.
Updated: Feb. 20, 2023 at 12:16 PM EST
|By Zach Solon and WECT Staff
Michael Oblinger of the University of Connecticut has been named athletics director at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Updated: Feb. 17, 2023 at 6:34 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
After a long work week, you may want to wind down with a drink at your favorite bar or restaurant. What many people in North Carolina might not realize, however, is that Happy Hour drink specials are against state law.
Updated: Feb. 16, 2023 at 9:55 AM EST
|By Zach Solon and WECT Staff
The Judge ruled that the case will proceed as a capital murder case, which means that the District Attorney’s office is seeking the death penalty.
Updated: Feb. 15, 2023 at 5:45 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
A growing city with a growing interest in sports is closer to becoming the home of the new nCino Sports Park.
Updated: Feb. 14, 2023 at 6:09 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Police are still working to determine what caused the crash near Eastwood Road and Military Cutoff Road in Wilmington early Saturday that killed two people and sent another person to the hospital.
Updated: Feb. 9, 2023 at 5:50 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Tyler Doyle was last seen Jan. 26 off the coast of North Myrtle Beach when his boat started taking on water.
Updated: Feb. 8, 2023 at 5:55 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
The Town of Leland had tripled in size over the last 20 years. Council has annexed more than eight square miles into town limits since the beginning of 2020 through 51 voluntary annexations.
Updated: Feb. 7, 2023 at 5:48 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Water samples taken near the site where nearly 30,000 gallons of hog waste spilled in Bladen County show heightened levels of bacteria.
Updated: Feb. 6, 2023 at 5:49 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
North Carolina Ted Budd made his first trip to Wilmington since taking office Monday during a visit to the Port of Wilmington.
Updated: Feb. 3, 2023 at 5:58 PM EST
|By Zach Solon and WECT Staff
Emails obtained from the Town of Leland show new details about a potential development including the investment of up to $100 million on over 1,400 acres along Hwy 17 next to Brunswick Forest.
Updated: Feb. 2, 2023 at 5:19 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
President Joe Biden announced this week his administration will end the COVID-19 public health emergency statuses in place since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020.
Updated: Feb. 1, 2023 at 5:47 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Wilmington resident Joanne Sobocinski started to feel dizzy and uneasy last November. Given her symptoms, she thought she might have vertigo.
Updated: Jan. 31, 2023 at 5:27 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Columbus County is set to receive more than $7.8 million in opioid settlement funds before 2039.
Updated: Jan. 30, 2023 at 2:39 PM EST
|By Zach Solon and WECT Staff
Jaquan Jackson appeared in a New Hanover County courtroom Monday afternoon.
Updated: Jan. 27, 2023 at 5:21 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Around 600 students at UNC Wilmington have shown interest in online gaming, also known as Esports.
Updated: Jan. 26, 2023 at 11:55 AM EST
|By Zach Solon and WECT Staff
The jury announced the unanimous verdict Thursday morning.
Updated: Jan. 25, 2023 at 5:59 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Patients recovering from strokes and other brain-related illnesses and injuries will soon be able to access a new specialty care center in southeastern North Carolina.
Updated: Jan. 24, 2023 at 6:01 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Patricia Rongotes last saw her brother, Randy Hockabout, alive on Jan. 24, 1986. He was found beaten to death in Wilmington the next day.
Updated: Jan. 23, 2023 at 6:02 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Kimberly Quattlebaum was at her home in Whiteville Sunday afternoon just after 3 p.m. when she got a call that her cow, Seven, had gotten loose from his enclosure on Tom Sessions Road.
Updated: Jan. 20, 2023 at 4:58 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
A research team at the University of North Carolina Wilmington has been awarded a $400,000 grant to study underwater ecosystems and habitats along the east coast.
Updated: Jan. 19, 2023 at 11:34 AM EST
|By Zach Solon and WECT Staff
Jamal Terrell Griggs, 29, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Shelton Long, who was killed on Nov. 5, 2021, in the 4200 block of River Rd.
Updated: Jan. 18, 2023 at 5:27 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Brunswick County is set to receive $13.6 million in NC Opioid Settlement funds spread out annually until 2038. Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to direct the next year of funding towards “evidence-based, high impact” strategies.
Updated: Jan. 17, 2023 at 6:28 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Columbus County Sheriff Bill Rogers is less than two weeks into his four-year appointment and faces challenges in running an office that became the subject of state and federal investigations into former Sheriff Jody Greene.
Updated: Jan. 12, 2023 at 5:13 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Family Promise of the Lower Cape Fear is a nonprofit organization in New Hanover County that works to help families that are victims of domestic violence and in need of housing.
Updated: Jan. 11, 2023 at 11:37 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
The UNCW men’s basketball team lost to No. 22 Charleston Wednesday, 71-69, at Trask Coliseum.
Updated: Jan. 10, 2023 at 6:06 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
Nearly 100 people died from drug overdoses in New Hanover County in 2021, marking the fifth-highest overdose death rate among the area’s seven-county hospital service area, and 46th-highest North Carolina’s 100 counties.
Updated: Jan. 9, 2023 at 6:21 PM EST
|By Zach Solon
The number of violent crimes in Wilmington decreased in 2022 compared to the year before, according to WPD Chief Donny Williams.
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