The Newsroom

WHQR is sitting down with all eight candidates for Wilmington's City Council — two incumbents and six newcomers — who are running for three seats. On this episode of The Newsroom, an interview with incumbent Clifford Barnett, Sr.

WHQR is sitting down with all eight candidates for Wilmington's City Council — two incumbents and six newcomers — who are running for three seats. On this episode of The Newsroom, an interview with incumbent Luke Waddell.

On this episode, WHQR News Director Benjamin Schachtman sat down with Derrick Anderson, host of a long-running community affairs show, to talk about The Endowment. From questions about the abrupt departure of CEO Dan Winslow, to the fate of the Northside Co-op grant, to the backstory of why the foundation does so much of its work in private, there's a lot to unpack.

WHQR is sitting down with all three candidates for Wilmington mayor, including the incumbent, and two challengers. On this episode of The Newsroom, an interview with challenger Jonathan Barfield, Jr.

The chemical GenX has plagued the Cape Fear Region for decades — though we only found out it was in the river eight years ago. Since then, there’ve been myriad fights: for regulation at the state and federal level, for filtration, and for accountability against the polluter. This week, we’ll have an update on the status of this slow-moving crisis in the Cape Fear.

WHQR is sitting down with all three candidates for Wilmington mayor, including the incumbent, and two challengers. On this episode of The Newsroom, an interview with incumbent Mayor Bill Saffo.

WHQR is sitting down with all eight candidates for Wilmington's City Council — two incumbents and six newcomers — who are running for three seats. On this episode of The Newsroom, an interview with challenger Cassidy Santaguida

WHQR is sitting down with all eight candidates for Wilmington's City Council — two incumbents and six newcomers — who are running for three seats. On this episode of The Newsroom, an interview with challenger Sean Guerrero.

WHQR is sitting down with all three candidates for Wilmington mayor, including the incumbent, and two challengers. On this episode of The Newsroom, an interview with challenger Billy Craig.

WHQR is sitting down with all eight candidates for Wilmington's City Council — two incumbents and six newcomers — who are running for three seats. On this episode of The Newsroom, an interview with challenger J.C. Lyle.

WHQR is sitting down with all eight candidates for Wilmington's City Council — two incumbents and six newcomers — who are running for three seats. On this episode of The Newsroom, an interview with challenger Richard Collier.

On this edition of The Newsroom, WHQR's Ben Schachtman and Rachel Keith unpack the New Hanover County Schools' budgetary needs — for the current year, and for longer-term facility needs. It's hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars — and it's not clear right now where all that funding is going to come from.

On this edition, The Assembly’s Erin Gretzinger on the rapidly shifting landscape of DEI policy in North Carolina higher education. Plus, WHQR's Nikolai Mather helps unpack the lawsuit between a Pender County newspaper and county officials — and the political context behind the litigation.

WHQR News Director Ben Schachtman and reporter Kelly Kenoyer unpack some of our recent reporting about Novant NHRMC: staff interviews and watchdog data show some concerning trends at the hospital, but the newest leadership team says things are improving. And, Rachel Keith helps explain FERPA, the federal law protecting student privacy, and how it might be overused to protect public information, in...

Leila Fadel, host of NPR's Morning Edition and the Up First podcast, came to Wilmington last month for WHQR's luncheon. On this episode of The Newsroom, we've got her keynote speech, a Q-and-A session with the audience, and a one-on-one interview with WHQR News Director Ben Schachtman.

On this episode: Rachel Keith recently hosted a panel for N.C. Project LEAD, asking elected officials and community leaders some tough policy questions. We’ll hear what they said about universal basic income, collective bargaining, and more. Plus, Nikolai Mather unpacks legislative efforts to fund school meals for all.

On this episode, Rachel Keith takes stock of what the New Hanover County Schools’ turnaround task force has accomplished in two years, and what’s next for them – and Nikolai Mather sits down with Representative Ted Davis to talk about his PFAS legislation

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 today’s show, host Rachel Keith talks about the groundbreaking Healthy Opportunities Pilot—one of the first in the country—where some Medicaid recipients get assistance for food, rent and utilities, and counseling for interpersonal violence or toxic stress needs. Service providers helping these people get reimbursements from the HOP program.

On today’s show, Rachel Keith celebrates Sunshine Week, an annual event focused on open government and transparency. In honor of this year’s sunshine week, we’re taking a look at government speech policies — we’ll dig into how much public employees, including college professors, can say when they talk to journalists or speak out on political issues. And, later on today’s show, Aaleah McConnell tak...

On today’s show, I’m sitting down with Republican New Hanover County Commissioner LeAnn Pierce about her thoughts and goals as the county’s budget negotiations move forward. We asked Pierce, vice-chair of the Board of Commissioners, about her thoughts on where the tax rate should go — and ways to make the county more efficient, including calls to eliminate DEI and have The Endowment step in to sup...

On today’s show, I’m sitting down with Democratic New Hanover County Commissioner Rob Zapple to talk about his priorities and perspectives on the county’s ongoing budget process. We asked Zapple about what he thinks about efforts to make the county more financially efficient — as well as calls to do away with the county’s DEI office, and have the Endowment step in to help with funding in some area...

On today’s show, I’m sitting down with Democratic New Hanover County Commissioner Stephanie Walker to talk about her perspective on the county’s budget negotiations — which are going on right now. Walker, who was recently elected to her first term as a commissioner in November after serving for four years on the county’s school board, campaigned as a strong education advocate. So we asked her abou...

The entire Cape Fear Region is growing at a blistering pace: and residents worry about the impact on traffic, trees, and stormwater. But growth here is moulded by planners who want to make sure residents don’t get left behind. We’ll hear from a panel of those experts on this week's episode of the Newsroom.

The New Hanover County Board of Education recently voted to reshape the district's strategic plan, policies, and procedures to comply with President Trump's recent executive orders on both DEI and gender issues. Board member David Perry recently accused the media of a "blackout" of the latter, so we asked him to come into the studio to unpack his views on the topic.