WILMINGTON — A building that could create jobs and grow businesses may be in store for downtown.
That’s according to Chip Mahan, chairman and CEO of Live Oak Bank, who announced the intent to create a job-creation incubator during a video interview with Mayor Bill Saffo, which was one of many conversations kicking off Wilmington’s Rising Together Initiative.
Claire Parker, head of corporate communications for Live Oak Bank, said plans are in their infancy, but Saffo told the StarNews that Mahan’s idea is for the incubator to help train individuals in the banking and finance industries.
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WILMINGTON — An inaccurate 2020 census count could have dire consequences for the Wilmington region.
The census, which is taken every 10 years and counts the population of everyone living in the U.S. and five U.S. territories, will determine the amount of federal funds that will flow into the area.
Another service that could bear the brunt of an inaccurate count is the New Hanover County Emergency Management Agency, which helps respond to hurricanes like Hurricane Isaias that hit the area in early August.
New Hanover County’s Title 1 schools could suffer from an inaccurate count as well.
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HAVELOCK — An area veteran’s protest over not being able to wear an American flag face covering at work has led to change.
Food Lion announced on its social media platforms late Friday that it has changed its policy on face coverings and that associates can wear masks with the American flag image as long as the masks adhere to other uniform standards.
The news came after Gary Dean, an Air Force veteran also well-known for his years as a TV news broadcaster in Eastern North Carolina, quit his part-time job at the Havelock Food Lion this week after being told he could not wear the American flag mask.
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JACKSONVILLE — Residents in Hubert could see their second sewer rate increase in the last four years as Pluris Webb Creek LLC has filed an application with the North Carolina Utilities Commission to increase their service rates in all areas of Onslow County.
The company has invested over $6 million in designing, permitting, and building the new facility and state laws and regulations allows for a fair and reasonable return on their investment.
North Carolina Regional Manager for Pluris Randy Hoffer explained in Aug. 2016 they took over for previous operator, Owner Joseph Hal Kinlaw Jr., after he pleaded guilty to causing banks to lose an estimated $18 million under the guise of building residential areas in Onslow County and Camp Lejeune.
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ASHEBORO — School administrators, teachers and students have a couple of weeks behind them in the 2020-21 school year and so far so good. To say it has been eventful thus far is an understatement.
Never mind the new normal with classes split up and the new cleaning and in-school procedures for the Randolph County School System (RCSS), which joined Uwharrie Charter Academy as the only systems in the region to resume on-campus education. Asheboro City Schools (ACS) have remained remote only, but will be addressing a possible return to school once the board of education meets next week.
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LEXINGTON — After six months of dealing with the national pandemic, Davidson County continues to see an increase in the number of active cases. According to the Davidson County Health Department, the number of active cases of COVID-19 has increased by 40 people in the month of August,
In a graph posted to the health department Facebook page, there was an average of 123 active cases in Davidson County the week beginning July 27. By the first week in August, the number had grown to 155 cases and last week the number of active cases hit a high of 163 cases. As of Thursday, the number of active cases in Davidson County had dropped slightly to 148.
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BURLINGTON — Deputies say a man stole a truck from a nearby home while fleeing the scene of a traffic accident.
At 3:07 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 4, deputies responded to an accident at Deep Creek Church Road and Roney Lineberry Road in Burlington, according to a press release from the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office.
The driver, 27-year-old Jacob Austin Price, of Burlington, reportedly left his vehicle on foot and took a truck and trailer from a nearby home, the Sheriff’s Office said.
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SPRING LAKE — The white cinder-block building stands in disrepair beside Sandhills Farmers & Heritage Market on Chapel Hill Road in Spring Lake
Built in 1951 by African Americans, the center first served as a recreational facility for local black youths. Social gatherings, such as family reunions, Boy Scout meetings and birthday parties, also were held there.
During the 1960s, the place was used for civil rights meetings.
The Sandhills Family Heritage Association is eager to put the former civic center back on the map, so to speak. Members are working on plans that, if approved, would designate the Spring Lake Civic Center as a historical site.
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LUMBERTON — A 49-year-old Lumberton man was shot and killed early Sunday, police said.
Lumberton police said they responded to a report of a shooting at a residence on the 2800 block of Freedom Drive, in the Weaver Court public housing area at about 1:16 a.m.
Upon arrival, police said they found Johnny Sinclair unresponsive and bleeding. First aid was administered on the scene and Sinclair was taken to Southern Regional Medical Center, where he died.
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POLKVILLE — The North Carolina Highway Patrol said a teenager was killed in a collision with farm equipment on Crowder Ridge Road Saturday night.
Trooper Ray Pierce said two people were traveling north at a high rate of speed on Crowder Ridge Road shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday night.
Pierce said the car was driven by Caleb Christian Capps, of Lincolnton. A passenger riding in the Dodge, 16-year-old Nathaniel Barrett, was pronounced dead at the scene.
There was no indication of any kind of impairment that led to the crash, Pierce said, and the driver of the tractor was uninjured.
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GASTONIA — A state Highway Patrol trooper assigned to Gaston County faces a criminal charge related to the theft of $5,000 worth of gym equipment from the Warlick YMCA, according to an arrest warrant.
Forty-four-year-old Jerome “J.J.” Letcavage, of Gastonia was briefly booked into Gaston County Jail Saturday afternoon on a larceny charge. He signed a written promise to appear in court and left Gaston County Jail minutes later.
An arrest warrant indicates on Wednesday, Letcavage took $5,000 in kettlebells, dumbbells, resistance bands and more from Warlick YMCA in Gastonia.
Gastonia Police arrested Letcavage on Saturday.
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ASHEVILLE — Local outdoor writer Danny Bernstein is a forward thinker, but the avid hiker with a peaceful demeanor stepped back in time when she wrote her latest book.
DuPont Forest: A History, scheduled for release on Labor Day by Arcadia Publishing and The History Press, is a product of the former software developer and computer science professor’s inherent curiosity – a quality that inspired her to write four previous books that detail her visits to state parks and her experiences on Southern Appalachian hiking trails, where she “put one foot in front of the other” for miles at a time.
The Brooklyn-born author’s latest work includes a section describing multinational DuPont Corp., which began operating a silicon manufacturing plant in the Brevard area in the 1950s, but focuses mostly on the “living history” of what is now the 12,000-acre DuPont State Recreational Forest that features six waterfalls, several lakes and 100 miles of hiking trails.
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ASHEVILLE — Those bingeing on the No. 1 Netflix series, “Cobra Kai,” will know “Moon,” the hippie-chick, high school mean-girl sidekick played by Hannah Kepple.
Kepple is one of three “Cobra Kai”-Asheville connections. In one of the first season’s funniest moments, Moon frantically avoids eye contact with “Homeless Lynn,” aka Susan Gallagher.
Gallagher, who has deep roots in Western North Carolina, now lives in Wolf Laurel in Madison County. The two recurring characters on the hottest show of 2020 join Jon Menick, who owns the Studio Artists Co-op on Riverside Drive, representing Asheville.
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