Nearly five years ago residents relying on drinking water from the Cape Fear River learned about the polution of the river with the chemical known as GenX. The revelation spurred lawsuits, federal intervention, and anger from those impacted by the pollution.
Body cameras can serve as a tool to shed light on law enforcement interactions with the public, but the family of a man found dead on TRU Colors’ property last month said footage from police has prompted even more questions as to what happened in the 24 hours leading up to his death.
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.
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.
People living in the gated community Shell Point Acres are concerned about their safety after first responders couldn’t get to a woman suffering from cardiac arrest early Tuesday morning.
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.
Residents of a gated community in Shallotte are frustrated, saying their Property Owners Association is bullying them with excessive fines and by refusing to follow its own bylaws.
In March, NCDEQ announced it was accepting comments on a draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) wastewater permit that would allow Chemours to discharge as much as 2.9 million gallons per day of effluent containing certain levels of PFAS into the Cape Fear River.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“I thought I was safe. I already had all my belongings packed, they were sitting in an apartment in Eugene. All they had to do is come pick it up and then deliver it. I never ever, ever perceived that I would lose my entire family history. Gone. Everything,” Zimmerman said.
Chemicals dumped into the Cape Fear River were the topic of conversation when the Secretary Elizabeth Biser with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality came to town.
Two deputies are out of a job after an arrest in Hampstead went terribly wrong. Deputies say they were not given proper equipment to do their job, putting them in a dangerous position and setting the stage for the detainee to escape. The sheriff says this wasn’t an equipment issue, but a failure by the deputies to properly supervise the suspect.
What started out as a beautiful Sunday morning bike ride in April of 2011 turned deadly when David and Trey Doolittle were run over by a man who’d been on an all-night bender.
After months of listening to Chemours’ claim to be a good neighbor in its ad campaign, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority launched a campaign of its own - but not in direct response.
City, County and Housing Authority leaders met with representatives from the Department of Housing and Urban Development Greensboro office to further discuss the mold crisis plaguing the Wilmington Housing Authority.
In an attempt to put public records laws to the test, WECT requested emails from county commissioners and county management to see what sort of things officials are designating confidential.
In the summer of 2021, a two-sentence email arrived in the inboxes of each staff member of the North Carolina General Assembly offering the “ethics tip of the day.” The topic: confidentiality.
The City of Stuart, Florida is suing companies connected to DuPont that manufactured firefighting foam used by their fire department. The plaintiffs allege the foam contaminated the city’s drinking water, and that the manufacturers failed to warn them about the hazard.
The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has directed Chemours to expand its interim sampling and drinking water plan for the Cape Fear River area.
For a year after the hospital sale closed in February 2021, employees say they were able to keep the same health insurance plan they had through New Hanover Regional Medical Center (NHRMC). Now that year is up, some employees are experiencing sticker shock.
The neighbors in one of Downtown Wilmington’s historic neighborhoods say they have been successful in a David versus Goliath dispute with local, state, and federal governments --- and have managed to finally have peace and quiet in the skies above them.
Victims and community members are still waiting to find out if school administrators will be held criminally liable for failing to report suspected sexual abuse of their students.
Brunswick County Director of Elections Sara LaVere says after elections conclude, her office regularly cross references the list of people who voted with other databases, such as the North Carolina Department of Corrections offender list.
Car accidents are an unfortunate reality of life, and as Southeastern North Carolina continues to grow, accidents are a common sight. With more drivers on the road the number of accidents will likely increase as well.
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and for those looking for love, it can be a particularly difficult time to be alone. This makes it a prime time for scammers to target individuals with cons known as ‘romance scams.’
Around the time it was discovered GenX was being released into the Cape Fear River, Governor Roy Cooper expanded the Secretary’s Science Advisory Board to investigate the impacts of new and emerging chemicals.
As work progressed, red flags popped up that made the Zieglers wonder if they’d chosen the right contractor. The lining of the pool doesn’t fit the pool wall properly, leaving the inside of the pool with an odd, wrinkled look.
Boseman refers to Chemours as “the corporate equivalent of the neighbor who plays loud music, blocks your driveway and dumps their garbage on your lawn.”
Some local apartment residents are experiencing sticker shock, after finding out their apartment complexes are raising their rent $300-$400 a month, without providing any additional amenities. Meanwhile, their paychecks haven’t changed.
“They would wear ski masks, they would cut phone lines, they would kick in the front door and then they would find the people in the house who knew where things of value were hidden. Drugs, jewelry, guns, and obviously money,” District Attorney Ben David recalled. “And they would literally threaten the lives of the people inside those houses.... torture was frequently involved.”
Three children were entrapped in this way during the summer of 2021, including a seven-year-old boy who died while using the elevator in an Outer Banks vacation rental home. In other incidents, children have suffered multiple skull fractures, fractured vertebrae, traumatic asphyxia and other horrific and lifelong injuries.
Across the nation golf courses have been losing money and shutting their doors, leaving those who bought into the idea of an idyllic retirement on the fairway with a nightmare situation on their hands.
A judge sentenced Peter Drutchal to 30 years in prison Wednesday, after Drutchal pled guilty to sex crimes he committed against Wilmington children. He also pleaded guilty to the aggravating factor of taking advantage of a position of trust or confidence to commit the offenses. The crimes happened over a span of several years in the 1970s and 1980s, but the now-adult victims only recently came forward.
The Village of Bald Head Island is now requiring all employees to sign a new Technology/Social Media Policy, prohibiting employees from using images of themselves in uniform on their personal pages, or making offensive posts that could interfere with the effective delivery of services by public officials,
A petition to the federal government has been granted by the Environmental Protection Agency that will compel companies that produce per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) substances, to conduct testing on health effects.
In some neighborhoods, not cooperating with police is part of the culture. Even though residents living in high crime areas are more likely to become victims of crime, or to be impacted by the crime around them, the “don’t snitch” mentality pervades.
The funding is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that passed in November. This has been a major issue along the Cape Fear River since 2017, when scientists discovered concerning levels of GenX in the drinking water supply for 300,000 people. GenX is a type of PFA toxin also known as a “forever chemical” because of how long it stays in a person’s body once they’ve been exposed to it.
Both of the newer cases remain under investigation. One happened on Halloween in Terrapin Hall. Another was reported in the Cornerstone Hall dorm. That victim said she was assaulted in October, but did not report the crime until November 5.
“We believe this trial will take between four and six weeks. It is a big deal and it is very expensive and it’s really not good for anyone,” said Plaintiff's Attorney Joel Rhine.
