Business
Tugboats push the bow of the 357-meter MV Hyundai Hope cargo ship back downriver before it docked at the Port of Wilmington Wednesday evening. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
WILMINGTON — The 1,200-foot MV Hyundai Hope crept up the Cape Fear River on Wednesday evening through thick sheets of rain before tugboats pushed the container ship back downriver, guiding it to dock beneath four lit-up cranes at the Port of Wilmington.
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This week New Hanover County ABC Board opened its liquor-by-the-drink (LBD) distribution facility off Market Street, behind the Auto Wholesale dealership, to accommodate senior customers who wish to avoid the risk of more crowded ABC stores. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
NEW HANOVER COUNTY — In a month when local bars and restaurants took a massive hit from the Covid-19 pandemic, people flocked to their local ABC liquor stores — most to stock up, but at least a few to make their own sanitizer solution.
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Neighbors of the Castle Bay subdivision joined other Hampstead residents to protest the proposed Jamestown sand mine at the Pender County Library in Hampstead last February. (Port City Daily photo/Courtesy Chris Oh)
HAMPSTEAD — After months of growing opposition from nearby residents and parents of Topsail School students, national developer Jamestown Properties was granted its request to the Pender County Planning Board to table a proposed sand mine project in Hampstead indefinitely.
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Half of the land owned by William McLean and his sister, Melanie Bradshaw, lies in Saint Helena (left of the fence), while the other half lies in Burgaw. Saint Helena approved the construction of a solar farm, behind the one pictured, while Burgaw did not. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
BURGAW — A solar farm and its landowners are suing the town of Burgaw over a rezoning dispute, pitting the rights of property owners against the jurisdictional authority of local government.
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The Alcove Beer Garden is the city’s newest craft beer bar and the latest addition to a business incubation project known as the ‘Outpost’ inside Wilmington’s growing Cargo District. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
WILMINGTON — There’s a lot going on in an old metal Quonset hut at the corner of 16th and Queen Street, dubbed the ‘Outpost’ by its creators and home to the city’s newest craft beer bar, the Alcove Beer Garden.
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A home on Herrings Chapel Road, roughly six miles west of Burgaw. A new federally funded project looks to bring fiber-optic internet to roughly two-thirds of the county. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
PENDER COUNTY — Two decades into the 21st century, more than 8 percent of Pender County’s population still has no access to DSL, cable, or fiber-optic internet.
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Mason Inlet Distillery owner Tom Curran dips a bottle of his Go Bananas brandy into hot wax to create a sealed top. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
WILMINGTON — No distilleries operated in New Hanover County before this time last year. Now there are three. With plans to hit ABC shelves sometime in March, Mason Inlet Distillery joins Blue Shark Vodka and End of Days Distillery in Wilmington’s emerging craft liquor market.
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A sign for the Blake Farm project sits off Highway 17 in Scotts Hill on Friday morning. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
PENDER COUNTY — A rarely used court order has produced a concentrated set of facts, agreed to by both parties, that show local developer Raiford Trask, Jr. misinformed a group of investors about paying development costs through various collateralized bank loans for the long-delayed Blake Farm development in Scotts Hill.
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After seven years in the brewing business, head brewer Jim Deaton, pictured, designed his first brewhouse as Bill’s Brewing prepares to triple production. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
WILMINGTON — The sprawling Bill’s campus off Market Street is getting even bigger with the addition of a new brewing facility and future plans to build a taproom beside it.
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Head brewer Carl Cross, right, and quality assurance manager Dean Moore adjust settings on the brewery’s new canning system last spring. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
WILMINGTON — Flying Machine Brewing Company will begin distributing to the coastal South Carolina market next month, marking the first time a brewery in the Cape Fear region will distribute across state lines on an ongoing basis, according to co-founder Grant Steadman.
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In an old wood shop, the End of Days Distillery will soon open on Castle Street in the Westbrook-Ardmore historic district. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
WILMINGTON — An old metal-arch building on the east end of Castle Street is getting ready to open as the city’s second distillery, half the space dedicated to the production of rum, vodka, gin — and soon whiskey — with the other half a cargo district-themed tasting room and lounge.
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A home on Herrings Chapel Road, roughly six miles west of Burgaw. Many homes in the rural areas that make up the majority of the county do not have access to high-speed broadband internet. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
PENDER COUNTY — Last week Governor Roy Cooper announced an $8 million federal grant to build out fiber optic cables to 4,000 homes in rural areas of Columbus County.
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Salty Turtle is the first brewery in North Carolina to use biodegradable, edible ‘eco rings’ made by Mexican company E6PR, designed to replace traditional plastic that causes increasing harm to marine wildlife. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
SURF CITY — Nearly two years after becoming Pender County’s original brewery, Salty Turtle Beer Company is now tackling another first — as the first brewery in North Carolina to use biodegradable, compostable can ring holders.
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The new Los Portales restaurant has higher ceilings, double the number of tables, and a more modern layout than the original location. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
WILMINGTON — Last weekend the Villaseñor brothers opened a second Los Portales Taqueria restaurant, further expanding their authentic Mexican street food business in Wilmington.
A collection of 1970s and 1980s board and card games, from Panzer Blitz on the left to G.I. Anvil of Victory on the right, is valued at $260. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
WILMINGTON — A local game store has been awarded consignment rights to a collection of rare and antique games, valued at more than $1 million, from the Washington estate of a former Stanford University and Microsoft engineer.
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New Anthem's second brewhouse ties Wilmington Brewing's as the largest in the city, with a 30-barrel brew system and ten 30-barrel fermenter tanks. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
WILMINGTON — With eyes on the Raleigh and Charlotte markets, Wilmington’s New Anthem Beer Project has finished its first test batches as it shifts a majority of its beer production to a new 15,000-square-foot facility in the South Front District.
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Four new 20-barrel fermentation and carbonation tanks at Waterline Brewing Company have doubled the brewery’s cellar space as it aims to increase local distribution of its flagship Kölsch beer. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
WILMINGTON — In a craft beer market crowded by variations on the India Pale Ale (IPA), Waterline Brewing Company is expanding production of its flagship Kölsch ale to meet a growing local demand for a beer known for its lightness and drinkability – a ‘gateway beer’ for those accustomed to traditional domestics.
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Sideboard owner Heath Newton, left, and general manager Chris Wallace. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
WILMINGTON — Before the gaming industry was taken over by computers, game consoles, and smartphones, there was a time when families would gather around Monopoly boards and roll dice, trade, fight, and extort each another.
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Co-owner Donnie Stone checks equipment in the brew house, housed next to the restaurant and bar of Bill's Front Porch. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
WILMINGTON — The city’s craft beer industry keeps booming as one of the 18 breweries in the region prepares to quadruple production, eyeing statewide distribution by 2020.
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Charlie Bell with Taxi Taxi Company said that ride-share vehicles are crowding out spaces in downtown Wilmington marked as taxi stands, and the police are doing little to control the congestion. (August 23, 2018). (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
WILMINGTON — For Nick Hiteshew, owner of Wilmington NC Taxi, it’s only a matter of time before traditional taxi operations are run out of town by ride-sharing drivers from Uber and Lyft – and the city is doing little to stop it.
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