BIG TALKER TOP STORIES

We are now just about three weeks away from the upcoming school year and throughout the weekend, consumers across the state will be able to buy certain school items free of the state’s six point seven five percent sales tax. Running today through Sunday night, retailers will be participating in the statewide Sales Tax Holiday. The event, which started in two thousand one, allows for tax-exempt purchases on clothing, school supplies, computers and recreational equipment. North Carolina is one of sixteen states across the country that offer tax-free holidays.

New Hanover County fire officials now say they do suspect foul play in the Monday night fire that destroyed the old Alford Seafood building on Carolina Beach Road. Witnesses told investigators that they saw people inside the foreclosed building throughout the afternoon and just prior to the fire.  

Property owners in New Hanover County should have received their two thousand eleven property tax bills in the mail this week. On Thursday, the County’s Tax Administrator said Kure Beach residents paid too much on their property tax bills and Roger Kelly told the media during a news conference yesterday, the error falls on him. Kelly said an error on the tax rate applied to property in Kure Beach led to residents being overcharged by more than twenty nine thousand nine dollars. The new tax bills should go out sometime today. The county says the original bills used a tax rate of sixteen point five percent instead of the actual town tax rate of sixteen point two five percent. The mistake affected more than two thousand four hundred properties. This is the second time the county has made a tax error of the last few years. In two thousand eight, the county revealed tax-exempt property had not been removed from the county's property revaluation, significantly overstating the county's tax value.

State House Speaker Thom Tillis has scheduled a legislative town hall meeting for later on this month here in New Hanover County. This public forum will be held on Friday, August nineteenth from five to six thirty at Cape Fear Community College’s Downtown Campus. The public will have a chance to directly speak to the House Speaker during that time. An RSVP is requested and you can confirm your attendance by email the Tillis speaker.rsvp@ncleg.net. We’ll have more details on the town hall meeting over the next week or so.

We are now just about three weeks away from the upcoming school year and parents are already starting to stock up on school supplies. This upcoming weekend, consumers across the state will be able to buy certain school items free of the state’s six point seven five percent sales tax. Starting Friday and running until Sunday night retailers will be participating in the statewide Sales Tax Holiday. The event, which started in two thousand one, allows for tax-exempt purchases on clothing, school supplies, computers and recreational equipment. North Carolina is one of sixteen states across the country that offer tax-free holidays.

More than thirty kids with Community Boys and Girls club will be touring the campus of UNCW today as the club and the university wrap up a summer collaboration to improve reading and writing skills for middle school students.  Throughout the summer, the kids were given the opportunity to use digital cameras, computers and iPads to create short stories and photo essays. The program was funded by a one hundred eight thousand dollar dropout prevent grant through the state.

Officials from the city of Wilmington, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority and the State DOT were  on hand today to break ground on improvements to North Third Street. The project involves the replacement of aging water and sewer lines, the placement of power and other utilities underground, and new street paving, sidewalks, lighting and traffic signals. The affected area on Third Street Downtown stretches from Market Street north to Davis Street, right before the Isabel Holmes Bridge. The project is expected to last about a year.

Detectives in Brunswick County are looking for the suspect involved in a shooting Tuesday night in the Grissettown area. Authorities say a white male who appeared to be in twenties confronted and shot another person with a small caliber handgun near Seaside Road and Highway. The victim remains hospitalized with wounds to his abdomen area but is expected to make a full recovery.

As more and more people are using social networking sites as a way to connect with friends and family, the New Hanover County School Board has decided to change its policy on how school employees connect with their students. During last nights meeting, school officials unanimously voted to bar school employees and teachers from communicating with students on social networking sites like Facebook and Twidder. School board member Doctor Derek Hickey expressed serious concerns regarding the potential for inappropriate private messaging afforded by social networking.  

A new grocery store in Port City officially opened its doors today next to the Port City Java near Twenty First and Market Street. Much of the produce and baked goods in the store will be from local farmers and vendors. A few elected officials are scheduled to be in attendance during this mornings ribbon cutting ceremony. There will also be several fun events for the family and specials all weekend including half off ice cream and gelato on Sunday.

The Wilmington Sharks will head to the playoffs on a three-game winning streak after a seven two win over the Morehead City Marlins on Tuesday night. The Sharks will be the number seven seed in the Petitt Cup playoffs when the first round best-of-three series gets underway here in Wilmington at the Legion Sports Complex on Thursday night. The Sharks will face off against the Fayetteville Swampdogs, the number two seed and their South Division rival in the Coastal Plain League. Game time tomorrow night is seven pm.

The first Tuesday of August each year is recognized as National Night Out as a way for communities across the country to get together and bring awareness to crime and prevention. In New Hanover County, the Port City Police Department partnered with the Market North Apartments on Darlington Avenue last night to celebrate the occasion. The Department’s Text-A-Tip van and the mobile command post was on-site, in addition to law enforcement officers. A similar event was also held on Carolina Beach.

A Leland man has been arrested on drug charges after authorities say he tried to sell prescription painkillers to an undercover agent in the parking lot of a Pizza Hut on Village Road. Forty one year old Christopher Caputo was found in possession of more than one hundred twenty oxycodone pills and a couple hundred dollars in cash. Sheriff Jon Ingram and his law enforcement agency in Brunswick County has made it a point over the last couple of years to hone in on illegal prescription drug sales.

U.S. North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan commented Tuesday after voting for a compromise on the debt  deal to keep the federal government from defaulting this week. The freshman Democrat Senator from the Tar Heel State said while the measure passed in the Senate might not be her first choice for a solution, it is a start. Senator Hagan also says the agreement averts a default crisis without relying on a short-term patch that would have left the markets in turmoil. Following President Obama’s decision to sign off on the debt deal Tuesday, The Dow Jones plummeted by more than two hundred fifty points, continuing an eight day slide and closed below twelve thousand for the first time since June twenty fourth.

The Wilmington Sharks baseball club had their final regular season home game washed out last night due to rain. They will now play a doubleheader tonight in Morehead City. Wilmington will then wrap up their regular season on Tuesday night, again in Moorehead City. The Sharks sit at thirteen and twelve in the second half of the season and are tied for second in the Coastal Plain League South Division. It does look like the Sharks will make it into the playoffs although the next three games could implicate their positioning for the postseason.
The Wilmington Hammerheads won two games in two nights on the road this past weekend in New York and in Harrisburg City. This Thursday, August fifth, the Hammerheads take on the Los Angeles Blues in the USL PRO Fox Soccer Game of the Week that will be nationally televised on the Fox Soccer Channel. The game kicks off at seven o’clock Thursday night at Legion Stadium. The local soccer club is now second place in the American Division of the United Soccer Club. The Hammerheads trail Orlando City by just three points for the top spot in the division.

The city is continuing work on a project to help ease traffic congestion and improve safety by realigning the intersection of Masonboro Loop, Masonboro Sound and Pine Grove roads. Work began in June and is expected to be complete this fall. The first part of the project, which includes drainage ditch clean-up and construction of the new road alignment at Pine Grove Road wrapped up last week. The second part of the project will begin this week. Beasley Road will continue to be available as a detour in that area.

The High School football season officially got underway over the weekend as a number of teams across the region held their first practices. Players had to withstand triple digits temperatures as they took part in their normal training exercises to get them ready for the upcoming season. The 25th annual BB and T Football Jamboree will be held in just a few weeks on August 12th at Legion Stadium in Wilmington. The scrimmages are a fundraiser for ten area high schools and student scholarships.

 Members of the community in Brunswick County did not let the heat bother them this weekend and took part in their second stop the violence rally. The event was put on by The Nothing Other than the Truth Foundation and was held in the Home Depot parking lot in Shallotte. The rally was set up following the April murder of South Brunswick High School student Marcus Hankins.

Police in the Port City took an eighteen year old man into custody this weekend after authorities connected him to a Friday afternoon shooting near the UNCW campus. Reginald Gagnier is charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury. Forty two year old David Carroll was able to drive himself to the hospital for treatment after he was shot outside at the Seahawk Square Apartments. Authorities say the two men knew each other and had a dispute which led to the shooting.

UNCW will conduct a full volume test of the Seahawk Warning Siren System today at noon. During the test, The university will also use related emergency communication tools, including text messaging. The siren test will last about four to five minutes, so if you’re near campus at noontime don’t be alarmed if you hear the sirens as it is only a test.  The system is tested periodically take make sure it is good working order.