SURF CITY — Mayor Pro-Tem William “Buddy” Fowler made the initial request to investigate possible election violations by fellow councilman Jeremy Shugarts, according to emails uncovered by a public records request.
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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)
Blake Farm: Court docs detail a development deal gone sour in Pender County
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)
Bill’s builds new brewhouse, aims to set up taproom in growing Market Street campus
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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Erosion beneath the Surf City Ocean Pier after a Northeaster hit Topsail Island in November, causing escarpments along the dunes and wiping out recently built emergency berms. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
Update: Surf City approves extending berm to all oceanfront properties, $237m Corps project hits planning phase
SURF CITY — Oceanfront property owners in Surf City who didn’t originally receive sand to reconstruct damaged berms after Hurricane Florence may soon breathe a collective sigh of relief.
NHCS teacher Peter Michael Frank swears in for his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon while District Attorney Ben David, pictured center left, looks on. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
Court appearance: Child sex case against Wilmington teacher turned over to special state prosecutor
WILMINGTON — On Tuesday afternoon Roland Grise Middle School band teacher Peter Michael Frank appeared in court, where his $750,000 secured bond was not reduced and District Attorney Ben David said more serious charges are being contemplated.
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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’s Flying Machine set to begin distribution across state line
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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Food Network host Tyler Florence speaks to attendees of a GLOW Academy fundraiser before announcing the kickoff of the Food Truck Challenge. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
In Pictures: Food Network’s Tyler Florence hosts Food Truck Throw Down
WILMINGTON — Celebrity television chef Tyler Florence challenged six local food trucks to a cooking competition as part of a fundraiser for the Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington (GLOW).
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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)
New Wilmington distillery to open in old wood shop on Castle Street
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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In response to the parents’ grievance against Cape Fear Center for Inquiry, pictured, the school said its seclusion room did not meet minimum state standards. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
Wilmington charter school suspends use of seclusion room after illegal usage
WILMINGTON — The Cape Fear Center for Inquiry suspended use of its seclusion room last fall after the family of a seven-year-old student filed a grievance against the public charter school. The school admitted that the room — and its policies for the room — did not meet minimum state standards.
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Senior Assistant District Attorney Connie Jordan, who led the review of the shooting death of Kyle Anthony Horton, discusses Horton’s kidnapping and multiple armed robberies in the days leading up to the shooting. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
Four detectives cleared in shooting death of wanted Wilmington man who was on the run
WILMINGTON — Four New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office detectives were cleared in the shooting death of an ex-convict who had been on the run from various law enforcement agencies following a series of armed robberies and kidnappings in Charlotte and Myrtle Beach.
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Surf City Councilman Jeremy Shugarts challenged Mayor Doug Medlin for the mayor’s seat amid a 10-month investigation into election violations. Medlin is pictured at left during a special meeting held last year. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
DA’s office disputes state investigators in election violations case against Surf City councilman
SURF CITY — Although a 10-month elections violations case brought against Surf City Councilman Jeremy Shugarts reached its conclusion last week, prosecutors are apparently at odds with state elections investigators over whether Shugarts benefited from errors made on past voter and campaign forms.
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Christmas Eve temperatures in Wilmington reached 69 degrees, 12 degrees higher than the normal, capping the warmest decade ever recorded. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
After second-warmest year in history, Wilmington weather shifts with incoming cold spell
WILMINGTON — The first 16 days of January have seen an average of 12.4 degrees above normal, the fifth-warmest start to a year in Wilmington’s history, as the second half of the month is expected to see below-normal temperatures.
A seclusion room used inside a charter school in New Hanover County. (Port City Daily photo/File)
Most New Hanover K-8 schools use seclusion rooms, top U.S. education officials have concerns about their use
WILMINGTON — Despite concerns of top American education officials on the use of seclusion methods on schoolchildren, more than half of all elementary and middle schools in the New Hanover County School system use so-called seclusion rooms to forcibly isolate students with disabilities or those showing aggressive behavior.
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A Marine helicopter passes over a section of the Surf City beach where a resident had complained of a “military mob.” (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
Documents detail Surf City’s handling of Marine behavior, suggest councilman wanted ‘minimal police involvement’
SURF CITY — Newly released documents from Surf City reveal what happened when what one resident called a ‘military mob’ took over a section of the beach last summer. They also show some evidence of the town’s attempt to handle the incidents quietly, along with a police crackdown on the issue.
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)
Communications cooperative looks for $25 million to bring fiber-optic to Pender’s rural ‘hinterlands’
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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UNCW goes with big name beers over local breweries in first year of alcohol sales
WILMINGTON — The University of North Carolina-Wilmington has agreed to deals with large beer distributors over local craft breweries in its inaugural season of alcohol sales at basketball games and other sporting events.
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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 brewery first in North Carolina to use can holders edible by marine wildlife
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)
‘Mexicano auténtico’: Villaseñor brothers launch second Los Portales restaurant
WILMINGTON — Last weekend the Villaseñor brothers opened a second Los Portales Taqueria restaurant, further expanding their authentic Mexican street food business in Wilmington.
One of two wing engines of the Ford Tri-Motor as it flies over Southport. The third is installed at the nose of the plane. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
In Pictures: Vintage 1929 Ford Tri-Motor passenger plane visits Oak Island
OAK ISLAND — The first all-metal commercial passenger plane is parked at the Cape Fear Regional Jetport this weekend offering flights for anyone who wants a ride on the former “Air Force One” of the Dominican Republic.
Read MoreBrew talk: Fall brings out the heavy hitters to ‘give you that warming feeling’
WILMINGTON — For many Wilmington beer drinkers, the shift from summer to fall means a shift from drinking lagers, pale ales, and Kölsch beers towards those dark, heavy stouts and porters that can warm them up as the cold settles.
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