Wilmington, NC News

The Town of Kure Beach got a half-million dollar boost Friday. The money comes from the state’s Natural Heritage Trust Fund, and will go toward the town’s new Ocean Front Park.

In order to get the funding, Kure Beach must keep the area solely as a green space. Acquiring the funds has been two years in the making.

“It’s going to help revitalize our economic development in the town as well as in the long term provide a positive public access for the people of North Carolina,” said Mayor Mac Montgomery.

Down the line, Kure Beach has plans to build bathrooms, a pavilion for outdoor concerts and a play area for small children at Ocean Front Park.

There’s nothing like a cold glass of water to cool you down on a hot day. Rosalind Hewett says there nothing refreshing about the water coming out of her faucet.

“Have you ever been to a pond, where there is all that green stuff in the middle, and it just smells…musty, thats the only thing I can say it just smells musty.”

The water coming out of the pump station in Shallotte looks clear and safe to drink. But residents who smelled the water say they’re not so sure about the safety.

Hewett’s granddaughter is coming to visit, so she went out to the store and stocked up on bottled water.

“I don’t know that it’s safe to be drinking this water, no one has told us anything, she said.” So I went out and bought water because I don’t want her taking a risk.”

Brunswick County Utilities Director Jerry Pierce says the water is completely safe to drink.

“I live in Leland and i drink the water everyday,” Pierce said.

The county uses raw water from the Lower Cape Fear River. A bloom of algae has caused the water to have a slight odor. The county is treating it with carbon, and beginning to flush out the system starting at the north end of the county, moving south.

“It just takes us a long time to get it out of our system, because of the size of our system. We provide water from one end of the county to the other, about 900 miles of water mains we have to get it out of,” Pierce said.

In the meantime, Hewett says she’s gonna stick to the clear, odorless water that comes in a bottle.

The local film community continues to watch and wait on Raleigh as the film incentive bill sits in the house.

The bill would increase the state’s film incentive from 15% to 25%. It still has to clear a second house committee.

In the meantime, questions remain about two HBO shows that have filmed in Wilmington. “East Bound and Down” may come back in the Fall.

“Little Britain USA” is being redesigned, and it’s future is uncertain.

Hollywood East casting director David Schifter says we’re still getting smaller projects here but the big budget movies have been going to other states.

From Myspace and Facebook, to e-Harmony and Match.com, internet dating is quickly becoming a widely accepted and popular way to find love.

If you believe some people are just meant to be, here’s your couple.

“I was using Myspace and I was on it just about everyday and I was like, ‘I wonder if there are any other Casey Townsend’s in the world. So I typed my own name into Myspace and there I saw Casey Samuel Townsend, from Bolivia, North Carolina. I was from Dayton, Ohio,” said the female Casey.

After exchanging Myspace messages, these two realized 700 miles was the about the only thing that set them apart.

“I thought it was extremely ironic that there was a casey townsend living in North Carolina that was the same age as me, that was also a videographer, and a musician, and a Christian, just like me.”

The male Casey’s cousin even happened to go to the same high school in Dayton as the female Casey. The connection gave them an excuse to meet in person.

It was love at first sight. After four months of dating, they tied the knot.

Having the same name made a lot of things easy. For instance, since their names are spelled the same, no one had to get their name changed.

But sometimes it can get confusing.

“We bought two tickets for Casey Townsend and Casey Townsend but they only gave us one seat, but they only gave us one seat for Casey Townsend, they thought it was a mistake.”

Finding love online doesn’t work for everyone, but it certainly worked for Casey and Casey.

“We were both really funny about online dating, we weren’t into the online dating thing…
I think it seemed too good to be true, that I type my own name into Myspace, and magically I find my husband. I just didn’t believe that it could be that simple.”

The Townsend’s did research to make sure they weren’t related. They said they plan on having children, and they’ve ruled out the name “Casey.”

Business owners along a main road in Leland are worried their businesses may be disrupted by road construction.

Friday Governor Bev Perdue announced 29 million dollars in Federal recovery funding for road projects across the state. One mile of Village Road in Brunswick County will be graded and paved beginning as early as August 31st, with the completion date set for June of 2011.

Perdue says that these projects will stimulate economic growth by creating and maintaining jobs. Business owners along Village Road are not so sure. Dr. Gil Cromshaw owns a practice on Village Road. He says, “I’m deeply concerned that when it does start its going to take a very very long time and its going to be very disrupted to the businesses here on Village Road.”

Dr. Cromshaw’s chiropractic firm has been located on Village Road for 15 years. And he says he has seen a definite increase in traffic during that time. Cromshaw says he just hopes the project stays on schedule.

The evidence of day trippers can be seen in packed parking lots at Wrightsville Beach.

“You can just tell that the areas that were somewhat sparse are now filling up,” said Mayor Steve Whalen.

Taking a day trip may be the new trend in cutting down on expenses, without foregoing family fun. Angela Huggins took a day trip to Wrightsville Beach, from Raleigh.

“It’s just an easy drive from Raleigh for the day and you don’t have to worry about hotels and the expenses and bringing all the food and everything for a week,” she said. “You can just come for the day and enjoy it and come back home.”

Town officials say beaches are still packed everyday of the week, but revenue from the room occupancy tax from hotels and rental properties is down.

What is up - is parking meter revenue. Mayor Whalen says that’s an indicator that people may be leaving the beach at sunset, instead of parking for the night at a hotel.

Many say a day trip is a small but effective way to leave all the hassles of everyday life behind.

“We got our vacation cut this year, pay cuts and everything else so we are tuning down the family vacation this year,” said David Nicklaw, who visited Wrightsville Beach from Boone.

You may not be able to clear the calendar for a week anymore.. but you might want to try it for a day.

Visitors say the water, recreation, good food and shops will keep them coming to Wrightsville Beach. A lot of them agreed that they can only afford to stay for a day.

Each student at Friday’s CFCC graduation rehearsal has a different story of how they got to this point. Thirty-nine year old Lorie Pacheco’s is particularly inspiring.

“I lived on the streets for two an a half years. I didn’t think anybody was ever going to help me again,” she said.

For 2 years, Pacheco spent long nights studying to become a paralegal. Those nights were spent in a homeless shelter. After bouncing from town to town, and living on the streets, Pacheco eventually found help in Wilmington. She found a temporary home at First Fruit Ministries, a women’s transitional housing shelter.

A roof, a warm bed and plenty of encouragement gave her what she needed to go back to school.

“Those are the outcomes we want for everybody that comes here,” said First Fruit resident director Donna Venezia. “Whether it’s a simple ‘I want to get my GED’ to ‘I want to go all the way, a Master’s degree.’”

Pacheco said heading back to school did come with some apprehension.

“I was a little nervous at first because there is a stigma attached to the homeless. Homeless doesn’t equal stupid or lazy, it’s just a circumstance, and you can overcome it,” she said.

It’s a message Pacheco has passed on to many women back at the shelter. Five others have since enrolled at Cape Fear Community College.

“What your age, what your circumstance, there is help and don’t be afraid to ask for help.”

600 students including Pacheco graduated Friday at the Schwartz Center. Pacheco already has a job lined up at Hagar & Associates law firm. She plans on getting her Bachelor’s degree, and then applying to law school. She’s had luck personally as well. Pacheco gets married Saturday.

A billion dollars doesn’t go as far as you might think. Funding for the federal government’s Cash for Clunkers program is near empty, but it could get some refueling next week.

Dealers and drivers throughout the U.S. have loved the Cash for Clunkers program. At Jeff Gordon Chevrolet in Wilmington, about 20 clunkers that have qualified for the government rebate have been recycled. One of them belonged to Linda Quinonez.

“It wasn’t just a matter of getting the full amount for the clunker, the car had been discounted and we got a great deal on it so we couldn’t be happier,” she said.

In fact, car buyers throughout the country have been turning in their road warriors for up to $4,500 dollars in rebates so fast that the government has used up the billion dollars it set aside for the program.

Friday, that caused confusion for people trying to take advantage of the incentives.

“They said that there was a possibility of it being suspended, they weren’t sure, but they think today could be the last day we could take advantage of it,” said car shopper June Bonser.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve a bill that would put an additional $2 billion dollars into the program’s tank.

The government says they will honor trades through the weekend, as they wait for the Senate to vote on the $2 billion dollars.

All of the local care dealers WWAY spoke with say they’ve seen an increase in traffic on their lots thanks to the program. Some say they have been having problems finding clunkers that meet the requirements. Still, many drivers whose cars aren’t meeting the requirements have decided to leave the lot with a new car.

On Wednesday, 17 year old Allen Strickland’s Tabor City home went up in flames while he was sleeping inside.

Strickland escaped with minor injuries, and the State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the fire as a suspected arson.

Strickland told WWAY’s Ann McAdams that State Senator RC Soles gave him tens of thousands of dollars in cash to build the house just a few months ago. WWAY obtained a copy of the deed, and it is in Allen Strickland’s name, prepared by Sen. Soles law firm.

Some of our viewers have asked how a 17 year old can legally hold the deed to a piece of property. Strickland doesn’t live with his parents, and if he’s been legally emancipated from them, attorneys we’ve consulted say it could give him the legal right to own property, even though most people can’t have property in their name until they’re 18.

We’ve been unable to confirm that Strickland has been legally emancipated by the courts. The Columbus County Courthouse has no emancipation decree in his name, but it’s possible that it was processed in another jurisdiction.

Insurance adjusters visited the burned-out house Friday to survey the damage. While much of the frame remains standing, the inside of the house suffered heavy smoke and fire damage, and it could be a total loss.

We put in another call to Sen. Soles Friday for comment on this story. Once again, we did not get a return call.