CAROLINA BEACH — The Cape Fear region welcomed the season’s first big storm last night after Hurricane Isaias made landfall at Ocean Isle at 11:10 p.m., dousing the area with heavy rains and sustained winds of 85 mph.

WILMINGTON — Last week, U.S. Representative David Rouzer told a crowd of about 50 Donald Trump supporters that, just like other investigations and criticisms aimed at the president since his inauguration, recent congressional investigations of the U.S. Postal Service and its moves to downscale operations were part of a “hoax.”

WILMINGTON — “That was something not many people get a chance to see.” Mark Winneberger was one of the first people to dive down to North Carolina’s newest artificial reef — a retired Coast Guard cutter, rechristened The Brian Davis, sunk 21 miles off the coast of Wrightsville Beach on Friday.

BURGAW — The state tested all 626 inmates at the Pender Correctional Institution in response to a Wake County judge’s ruling that conditions in state prisons during the pandemic were likely unconstitutional, and a subsequent ruling that the state had failed to comply with the initial order to test all inmates.

WILMINGTON — One of three former Wilmington Police Officers fired last month after unintentionally recorded conversations became public, revealing racist and violent language, has filed an appeal for reinstatement.

WILMINGTON — In the middle of the darkness that has come over downtown Wilmington in recent days, an old, seasoned bar owner with a thick Belarusian accent kicked on the generator, lit the candles, and opened his doors to those who had ridden out the storm.