SOUTHEASTERN NC—It’s official: The holidays have arrived.
We’re sure you were busy this week decking the halls, stringing the lights, choosing a tree, and finding yourself gearing up for the season. So, we figured we’d catch you up on stories you may have missed this week.
Port City Daily’s top read piece between Nov. 30 and Dec. 6 is “Brunswick County has spilled an estimated 417,000 gallons of sewage this year.”
Following closely behind are “Infrastructure portion of Wilmington Rail Trail gets $5.4 million price tag, funding undetermined” and our Friday Covid-19 update from local schools, “92 Covid-19 cases reported in tri-county schools this week [Free].”
In case you missed it, we’ve included links below to the top three stories, plus a few more — including a new holiday album from regional musicians, an opioid program that will continue, and the city’s latest beef with billboard advertising.
Brunswick County has tenth sewage spill in 2020
That’s a lot of poo.
On Wednesday evening Brunswick County Public Utilities announced its tenth sewage spill of the year, when wastewater leaked through a cracked pipe, reaching the Shallotte River Basin.
Wilmington Rail Trail master plan is presented to city council
Turning the old Atlantic Coast railbed between McRae and 3rd streets in downtown Wilmington’s northside into a rail trail, combining greenspace and art installations, has been discussed since 2013’s Comprehensive Greenway Plan. Now, early costs on infrastructure have been calculated.
Public school Covid-19 case count on the rise
Every Friday Port City Daily does a Covid-19 case count from local schools in the tri-county area. This week 92 cases were reported.
Private school halts in-person learning from second cluster of Covid-19 cases
Speaking of Covid, Coastal Christian High School switched to remote learning the week of Thanksgiving, but extended it into the week after when more students tested positive for Covid-19.
Here’s the scoop…
Cape Fear Clinic ready to receive the Moderna vaccine for its patients
The Cape Fear Clinic operates with a staff of 18 and a robust volunteer network to serve people who are uninsured, as well as people with incomes of less than double the federal poverty level and those with Medicaid coverage. It is prepared to get the Moderna vaccine in coming weeks to distribute to its clientele.
Billboard drama
City and city staff are split on how they feel about paid advertising on billboards, especially digitized ones that rotate constantly. Yet, they’re also getting free space to run public service announcements for citizens, which allows local billboard companies to keep their ads slots in rotation every 8 seconds rather than 15.
Indie holiday sounds
Local musician Justin Lacy produced an all-original holiday album with atypical indie songs from North Carolina bands. It’s quite apropos for 2020’s very Covid-y Christmas.
Pilot program to address opioid abuse
The Opioid Overdose Quick Response Team (QRT) is a pilot program addressing opioid abuse in Wilmington; results are showing success so far. With additional funding, the program will continue for another six months to tackle overdoses from other types of drugs and mitigate impacts from the pandemic.
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