Most Americans believe they are discriminated against for their race, gender, or sexual orientation.  

Jews in Scotland are talking in greater numbers about leaving the country over a rise in anti-semitism there.  The Director of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities told the Australian Herald Sunday that “Many Jews actively discuss leaving Scotland because they feel alienated, vulnerable and not at home.”

Bullying is a public health problem.  According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the working definition of bullying is “unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.”  It can occur in-person or through technology.

Walking around the Cape Fear region can be tricky – even downright dangerous in some areas.  For example, the Gary Shell Cross City Trail in Wilmington runs from Wrightsville Beach to the University of North Carolina Wilmington before making a half-loop, passing the Cameron Art Museum, and in the process linking at least four city parks.  

If you believe the holiday movies, songs, and Charlie Brown Christmas specials, the holidays are a time for rejoicing, for family and friends, and for introspection.

But it’s also a time for over-the-top consumption.  

Jose Sartarelli, Chancellor of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, took the helm three years ago – in 2015. 

The first six months of 2018 saw 126 reported cases of human trafficking in North Carolina.  That’s according to Polaris. 

One in five women will be raped at some point in their lives.  One in 71 men will face that level of sexual violence.  That’s according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. 

For women of multiracial backgrounds, the risk of assault is higher – 45%. 

Cabbage casserole.  Does it conjure images of comfort food and yummy smells?  Or does it remind you of the cringe-worthy dish from Aunt Gertrude that made the house smell like Uncle Leo’s indigestion?

Community colleges can be an alternative to traditional universities for students. They’re an option for people not interested in 4-year degrees – but who want to learn a trade and get a credential.  While there is a clear shift towards this vocational business model, community college officials with Cape Fear, Brunswick, and Carteret Community Colleges say college transfer students – people who go on to pursue 4-year degrees -- are still more than half of the student body. 

The 2018 mid-term elections brought historic turnout across the country and in North Carolina.  Across the state, more than 52% of registered voters cast ballots.  That’s in line with the local numbers:  New Hanover County turnout was at 51%, Pender County saw a 50% turnout, but Brunswick County's number was even higher at 57%. 

It was 120 years ago on November 10, 1898, when a mob of white supremacist burned property, terrorized Wilmington citizens, murdered anywhere from a dozen to 300 people, and forced elected officials from office. We’ll hear from New York Times Magazine Writer John Jeremiah Sullivan and his research partner Joel Finsel…We’ll talk with former city councilman, political science professor, and Wilmington native Earl Sheridan… 

North Carolina House District 20 covers most of New Hanover County – largely in the northern portion. Holly Grange, a Republican, was first appointed to the seat after Rick Catlin announced he was stepping down.  She then ran unopposed in the 2016 general election and won.

North Carolina House District 19 encompasses the southern portion of New Hanover County.

Editor's Note: Ethan Bickley (L) has endorsed Senator Michael Lee (R), as reported by WECT. 

On this edition, the focus is North Carolina Senate District 9, which includes most of New Hanover County.  Not part of District 9 is the largely Democratic, African-American neighborhood in downtown Wilmington that, as described in detail during our Senate District 8 edition, is 2.6% of New Hanover County voters. 

On this edition, our focus is on North Carolina House District 16 – which covers Pender County and about a portion of Columbus County, according to the newest maps. 

On this edition, our focus is North Carolina House District 18 – which covers the northern tip of Brunswick County and the northwestern corner of New Hanover.

North Carolina’s U.S. House District 7 stretches from the southeastern coast of North Carolina encompassing Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender Counties – west to the more rural Columbus, Sampson, Wayne and Duplin Counties.  The district also includes portions of Johnston and Bladen County. 

Hurricane Florence barreled into the Cape Fear region less than one month ago.  Now, the remnants of Michael are bringing more wind, rain, and possible flooding to southeastern North Carolina.

Representative Frank Iler has served North Carolina’s House District 17 for four-and-a-half terms; he is now seeking his fifth.  The district includes most of Brunswick County – about 72% of it.  The remainder of Brunswick County joins about a quarter of neighboring New Hanover County to make up House District 18 – which is served by Democratic Representative Deb Butler. 

The voter registration deadline for 28 counties in North Carolina is now extended because of impacts from Hurricane Florence.  New Hanover, Brunswick, Pender, and Onslow Counties, as well as 24 other affected areas, now have until 5 PM October 15th to register.  The deadline had been Friday, October 12th. 

New Hanover County’s Board of Education has four open seats this year.  Eight people, four Democrats and four Republicans, are competing for those seats – which carry four-year terms.

North Carolina Senate District 8 covers 100% of Brunswick, Bladen, and Pender Counties.  Also included in Senate District 8 is a tiny part – 2.6% -- of New Hanover County. 

Sonny Liston, heavyweight boxing champion in the early 1960s,  died near the beginning of 1971.  The reason listed on the death certificate:  natural causes.  But nearly 50 years later, the question of whether he was murdered is an open one for some.  It’s a question Shaun Assael set out to answer with his book, The Murder of Sonny Liston:   Las Vegas, Heroin, and Heavyweights. 

Edward Hardin joined the U.S. Army in the summer of 1917 when he was 24 years old.  Despite getting expelled from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for fraternity pranks that involved laxative-laced hot dogs and cows inside buildings, the native Wilmingtonian earned his undergraduate degree in pharmaceutical chemistry and a graduate degree in Pharmacy by 1914.  Both before and after World War I, Edward worked as a pharmacist at his family’s business, Hardin Pharmacy.

The news of a well-organized band of protestors pulling down Silent Sam last week has launched another round of emotional debate over the handling of Confederate monuments.  University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt says the eyes of the nation are upon her institution, and that she and her Board of Trustees are now charged with finding a lawful, lasting way to protect the monument by November 15th. 

Horror stories abound of homeowners’ associations nitpicking over paint colors, dinging people for landscaping choices they never submitted for approval – even fining property owners to the point of bankruptcy.

Lauren Collins has investigated the precise number of roses that go into a bottle of Chanel No. 5.  More recently, she covered the gender pay discrepancy scandal that has rocked the BBC and spurred new questions around salary secrecy and reporting requirements in the UK, Iceland, and other parts of the world. 

It’s not news that the Cape Fear region suffers from some of the highest numbers per capita of people addicted to heroin and opioids.  In response to what’s now commonly “the opioid crisis”, law enforcement strategies have changed, with officers carrying the anti-overdose drug Naloxone and authorities looking to put more offenders into treatment instead of jail.