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On the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, WHQR's Ben Schachtman sat down with Curt Farrison, president of Chapter 885 of the Vietnam Veterans of America, to talk about coming home from war, understanding and managing PTSD, and what the country could do better for men and women who have worn a uniform.
On this episode, WHQR's Ben Schachtman sits down for a conversation with Frankie Roberts, executive director of LINC, about community safety.For a quarter century, Roberts has run LINC, a non-profit dedicated to helping people rejoin the community after being incarcerated. We'll talk about how that work has expanded over the years — and how Roberts sees the challenges facing the community today.
On this episode, WHQR's Ben Schachtman sat down with Abdul Hafeedh Bin Abdullah, co-founder of Sokoto House and the Quality Life Blueprint, to talk about how he sees the issue of community safety through a public-safety lens, and where some other efforts — like Tru Colors and Port City United — may have fallen short.
On this year-end episode, WHQR News Director Ben Schachtman looks back over a wild year's worth of reporting with journalists Rachel Keith, Aaleah McConnell, Kelly Kenoyer, and Nikolai Mather.
On this episode, WHQR's Rachel Keith takes over hosting duties for a conversation with Hugh McManus, who just wrapped up his term as a New Hanover County school board member. McManus has dedicated four decades to education, and in this interview, he talks about his journey as a teacher, principal, school director, and board member.
On today's show, WHQR's Ben Schachtman and Nikolai Mather are unpacking the forum we put on earlier this month with WECT and Port City Daily, featuring candidates running for the North Carolina House and Senate. We'll dig into what the candidates had to say, with context, analysis, and some fact-checking.
On today's show, WHQR's Ben Schachtman and Kelly Kenoyer are unpacking the forum we put on earlier this month with WECT and Port City Daily, featuring candidates running for the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners. We'll dig into what the candidates had to say, with context, analysis, and some fact-checking.
On this episode, WHQR's Ben Schachtman and Rachel Keith and Port City Daily's Brenna Flanagan break down what New Hanover County school board candidates had to say during our recent town hall forum, with context, analysis, and fact checking.
On this episode, we'll get a behind-the-scenes look at an upcoming project from WHQR. In the aftermath of a Supreme Court ruling that pulled back on the rights of the unhoused, we'll take an intimate look at the inner lives of our homeless neighbors, with insights from the people who serve them.
On this episode, we sit down with Scott Simon, longtime journalist and host of NPR's Weekend Edition to talk about the state of the news — plus highlights from Simon's remarks at the recent WHQR 40th anniversary luncheon.
This year, WHQR's Cape Fear Conversation series is taking a closer look at the four focus areas of the New Hanover Community Endowment. On this episode: health and social equity.
On this episode, it's a conversation with Jon Martell, a retired doctor and former hospital administrator who says he nearly died at New Hanover Regional Medical Center — not because of a mistake made by a nurse or doctor, but because of systemic issues at the hospital. The experience led him to found a new nonprofit to push for a safer, higher-quality hospital. WHQR also spoke with top Novant medical administrators to work through some of Martell's systemic concerns.
In honor of Sunshine Week — an annual event focused on government transparency and reporters who work to hold governments accountable for being open to the public — WECT, Port City Daily, and WHQR took a look at warrants and domestic violence protection orders. WHQR also took a closer look at a new policy aimed at giving New Hanover County school board members first crack at public documents — something that definitely isn't in keeping with the spirit of Sunshine Week.
This year, WHQR's Cape Fear Conversation series is taking a closer look at the four focus areas of the New Hanover Community Endowment. First up, community development. It's a board area that includes a lot of different facets, but for this forum we focused on housing.
On this episode, WHQR's Rachel Keith helps unpack the latest work from New Hanover County Schools' Turnaround Task Force. The group has been generating some actionable ideas that could see local funding — but the district as a whole still faces challenges, including increased market pressures as it struggles against charter and private schools for public funding. Plus, we hear from some student leaders who are trying to bring their own perspective — and some valuable data — to tough conversations in the district.
On this episode, WHQR News Director Ben Schachtman reflects on the past year with Kelly Kenoyer, Rachel Keith, Nikolai Mather, and Camille Mojica.
On this edition, WHQR's Kelly Kenoyer and Ben Schachtman break down the highlights from this week's forum for City of Wilmington Council candidates, hosted in partnership with WECT and Port City Daily.
On this episode of The Newsroom, WHQR's Rachel Keith shares what she heard at a recent roundtable event, held by New Hanover County Schools' Turn Around Task Force, charged with getting to the bottom of what ails the district's lowest-performing schools. At the most recent meeting, task force members heard from teachers — who spoke unsparingly about what they really need to help students succeed.
WHQR sat down with all seven candidates for Wilmington's City Council — two incumbents and five newcomers who are running for three seats. On this episode of The Newsroom, an interview with incumbent Kevin Spears.
WHQR sat down with all seven candidates for Wilmington's City Council — two incumbents and five newcomers who are running for three seats. On this episode of The Newsroom, an interview with challenger John Lennon.
WHQR sat down with all seven candidates for Wilmington's City Council — two incumbents and five newcomers who are running for three seats. On this episode of The Newsroom, an interview with challenger Kathryn Bruner.
WHQR sat down with all seven candidates for Wilmington's City Council — two incumbents and five newcomers who are running for three seats. On this episode of The Newsroom, an interview with challenger David Joyner.
WHQR sat down with all seven candidates for Wilmington's City Council — two incumbents and five newcomers who are running for three seats. On this episode of The Newsroom, an interview with challenger Salette Andrews.
On this episode, WHQR's Kelly Kenoyer breaks down how — and why — we've been running our Community Agenda program. Plus, excerpts from our interviews with three of the candidates running for Wilmington City Council.
WHQR sat down with all seven candidates for Wilmington's City Council — two incumbents and five newcomers who are running for three seats. On this episode of The Newsroom, an interview with challenger Marlowe Foster.
WHQR sat down with all seven candidates for Wilmington's City Council — two incumbents and five newcomers who are running for three seats. On this episode of The Newsroom, an interview with incumbent Neil Anderson.
On today's show, highlights from our most recent Cape Fear Conversations event. This is our third event, this time focusing on the issue of homelessness — looking at what factors are pushing people out of housing, what we get wrong about them and what they're going through, and about how we might help get them back on track.Our panelists for this event were Katrina Knight, Clayton Hammerski, Karen Garcia, Katelyn Mattox, and Pastor Meg McBride. WHQR reporter Kelly Kenoyer hosted.
On this episode of The Newsroom: how one parent's efforts to remove a single book from a New Hanover County school curriculum became a proxy for the culture wars.In a five-hour hearing, both sides argued the fate of Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You. It's a book based on the work of Ibram X. Kendi — but the debate went way beyond this one book, and said a lot about our current political moment and the state of public education.To unpack this story, we're joined by WHQR's Rachel Keith, who has been covering the debate over Stamped for months.
On this episode, WHQR's Rachel Keith helps unpack the work of the Turnaround Task Force — a group charged, as the name implies, with turning around 12 of the district's lowest-performing schools. At a political moment when redistricting (that is, desegregating) the district's schools seems implausible, that means embracing a host of other strategies.
On today's show, a look at New Hanover County's 12 low-performing schools. It's a perfect storm of segregation, childhood trauma, systemic poverty, and changing workforce dynamics — but despite that daunting challenge, New Hanover County has established a task force to help deal with the problem. WHQR's Rachel Keith attended the first meeting and joins us to unpack some candid conversations, a lot of data, and some possible solutions.
NPR Special Correspondent Susan Stamberg visited Wilmington, NC in late May 2023. Two interviews, one in front of several hundred people, one in WHQR's CoastLine studio, reveal the origins of the NPR sound, a fiercely rigorous journalist, and a voraciously curious woman who injects humor into almost anything.
WHQR's second Cape Fear Conversation is focused on the queer community — just in time for Pride Month.
On today's show, we sit down with New Hanover County Schools district Superintendent Dr. Charles Foust about his reaction to an increase in guns and drugs on school campus. Then, WHQR's Kelly Kenoyer has an exit interview with Marie Parker, who helped right the ship at WAVE as executive director for the last two years.
On this episode, we take a closer look at trauma-informed approaches to education, criminal justice, and even our everyday lives. WHQR's Rachel Keith, who just published a three-part series on ACEs, joins us to dig deeper into the issue.
For years, the state of North Carolina has struggled to balance economic interests, environmental concerns, and the public's right to recreational access to natural resources — that is, fish. The issue is complicated by the difficulty of knowing the exact status of many of the state's most popular fish species. On this episode, WHQR's Grace Vitaglione unpacks months of reporting to try and get to the bottom of things.
If you missed WHQR's February 11 Black History event, you're in luck: We have the highlights for you in this episode of The Newsroom. Hear from great speakers about local history, and tune in next week for an episode on our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion panel.
On this week's show: Tracey and Girard Newkirk on Genesis Block's work with minority entrepreneurs, WHQR's Grace Vitaglione on the maze of federal, state, and local disaster recovery efforts, and WECT's Michael Praats on the region's public-private partnerships.
On this episode, a closer look at WHQR's One Small Step project — part of our longtime relationship with StoryCorps.Our past StoryCorps conversations have been between close friends and family members, but One Small Step was something different, and a little more challenging: putting two strangers with two very different political backgrounds together for a conversation.The goal? Have a civil conversation, explain where you're coming from without trying to fight or win over the other person, and maybe connect a little as a human beingAs daunting as that might sound in our fraught political climate, the conversations were surprising, and educational, and sometimes even inspiring.
On today's show, we're bidding farewell to 2022 with a look back at the work WHQR's team of journalists did this year, and a look ahead at what's in store for 2023. Host Benjamin Schachtman sits down with Camille Mojica, Grace Vitgalione, Kelly Kenoyer, and Rachel Keith.
On this episode, we're joined by WHQR's own Rachel Keith to unpack her most recent investigative series looking at issues at Cape Fear Community College — and at the administration of President Jim Morton.
Over the last year and a half, The Newsroom has tackled some of the toughest stories in the region, powered by the reporting of WHQR's journalists. We're grateful to our community for making this work possible— and we're asking you, during WHQR's Fall pledge drive, to join those who are already supporting the WHQR news team.
The majority of renters are housing burdened in New Hanover County, and rental prices continue to surge. But what do those concerning numbers mean for people experiencing this vicious housing market? WHQR's Kelly Kenoyer explores that issue with one person who's been pushed out of the market, alongside a panel of experts who work with the most desperate members of the Cape Fear Community.
WHQR's Rachel Keith sits down with Dr. Aswani Volety, UNCW's new chancellor. And WECT investigative reporter Michael Praats helps unpack the history of the Wilmington crime lab — and new allegations about why the Sheriff's office took over managing it.
On this episode, WECT's Frances Weller reflects on her four decades in broadcast journalism — and looks ahead to what's next. Then, WHQR's own Rachel Keith on the story of a missing study, worth millions of dollars, that could hold key insights into the problem of school safety. And Nada Merghani, an advocate who has turned to journalism with recent work for WUNC, talks about navigating the new rules of reporting.
The Environmental Protection Agency now says there is no safe amount of the "forever chemical" PFAS in drinking water. WHQR's Kelly Kenoyer explains how the warning is playing out at a North Carolina chemical plant. And, Katy Sewall of "The Bittersweet Life" podcast shares an essay on the impossible challenge of looking objectively at a much-loved piece of luggage.
This week, the WHQR news team, along with guests from Port City Daily and WECT, break down the major issues and how they shaped the results of Tuesday's election — which saw some unexpected upsets for incumbents, strong performances from newcomers, and higher voter turnout than in past years.
On this week's episode, WHQR's Ben Schachtman and Kelly Kenoyer break down what happened at the joint-media town hall for primary candidates running for the New Hanover County Commissioners. The event, produced by WHQR, WECT, and Port City Daily, featured all seven candidates, with questions from reporters and the public.
On this week's episode, WHQR's Ben Schachtman and Rachel Keith break down what happened at the joint-media town hall for primary candidates running for the New Hanover County Board of Education. The event, produced by WHQR, WECT, and Port City Daily, featured all ten candidates, with questions from reporters and the public.
On this episode, the WHQR news team helps unpack three major stories: Rachel Keith kicks off the primary election season, Kelly Kenoyer explains the evolving crisis in Wilmington's housing authority, and Camille Mojica digs into the issue of 'community violence.'
On this edition of The Newsroom, WHQR's Rachel Keith joins us for a look at government transparency and accountability. Then, WECT's Michael Praats on the grey area around public records. Plus, a conversation with UNCW's Dr. Donyell Roseboro, who recently became the University's permanent Chief Diversity Officer.