
Government


Shelters won’t open here
6:35 p.m. Sunday update No evacuation shelters will be open in Columbus County for Tropical Storm Isaias.Emergency Management Director Kay Worley said Sunday (today) that shelters will not be opened, due to the difficulties of [Read More]

Area under tropical storm warning
1:15 p.m. Sunday Columbus County is under a tropical storm warning due to the approach of Isaias. The storm is expected to make landfall Monday in South Carolina, and early forecasts have the center passing [Read More]

Isaias forecast to affect here Monday
6:15 p.m. update for Friday. Hurricane Isaias will impact southeastern North Carolina Monday afternoon, on its current track. The National Weather Service Wilmington office sent out an update on the storm at 6 p.m. Although [Read More]

Hurricane Isaias could impact state, NWS says
7.31.20 2 p.m.Two to four inches of rain are expected beginning Sunday into Tuesday. Hurricane Isaias slowed slightly and shifted a bit to left Friday (today), the National Weather service said in its 1 p.m. [Read More]

County reports 50 new cases since Monday
No additional deaths here, but sharp increase on positive cases. More than 8,000 tests administered. Columbus County had a major spike in COVID-19 cases since Monday, with 50 new cases bringing the total to 815. [Read More]

Boil water order lifted at Lake Waccamaw
Lake Waccamaw has lifted the boil water order for residents of Canal Cove from the 2600 block to the end of Waccamaw Shores. The order was rescinded Friday afternoon (today). Call the town hall at [Read More]

CCCA facing new challenges in addition to COVID-19
Columbus Career and College Academy is facing a few more challenges than other public schools for its opening day of Aug. 6. CCCA is not only dealing with the effects of the pandemic, but this [Read More]

Restaurant alcohol curfew set as some numbers level
Governor says state must prevent restaurants from turning into “bars after hours.” Bars will remain closed, and restaurants will be prohibited from selling alcohol after 11 p.m. Friday under a new executive order handed down [Read More]

County has 44 COVID-19 deaths, 765 cases
Four more residents have died since the last county report. Four additional deaths in Columbus County have bee attributed to COVID-19, according to the Health Department. Two cases were reported by the state over the [Read More]

Absentee requests expected to be high for election
The Columbus County Board of Elections reports that absentee ballot requests are expected to skyrocket this year, and with those extra absentee ballots come a lot of opportunities for fraud. “It’s our job to make [Read More]

Seeds are scam, and possibly invasive species, state says
State officials ask that anyone receiving unsolicited packages of seeds contact the Department of Agriculture. Odd packages of unknown seeds are turning up across North Carolina and the country, according to the N.C. Dept. of [Read More]

Food drive Thursday in Whiteville
More than 500,000 pounds of food passed through the doors of Harvest Table Food Bank in Whiteville last year, and more is needed. “We have people in need coming to us every day,” said Kevin [Read More]

No deaths, but 33 new COVID cases in county report
Two cases shifted to other counties, but count still rises. Columbus County lost two cases to other counties, but the county’s COVID-19 tally still rose to 732 in Thursday’s report from the Health Department. The [Read More]

Hurricanes during COVID poses new challenges
Although neither of the tropical systems currently churning in the Atlantic pose a threat to North Carolina, emergency officials are encouraging planning ahead will help make enduring and recovering from a hurricane much easier, should [Read More]

Governor says masks ‘decent’ thing to do
The state will provide 900,000 facial coverings for farmworkers, the governor said in a COVID-19 briefing this afternoon (Tuesday). “We must protect our farmers, farmworkers and their families,” Gov. Roy Cooper said in an update [Read More]