Public Safety

Whiteville Police will release more information about the March 11 homicide of Cynthia Hansen at a press conference Wednesday. Hansen was found brutally assaulted in her Thompson Street fitness center just before 6:30 a.m. March 11. She later died at Columbus Regional. WPD Chief Paul Rockenbach said in a press release that the conference will be at 9 a.m. in City Council chambers. The conference is open to...

Columbus County and all of southeastern North Carolina are under a tornado watch until 8 p.m. In addition to Columbus, Bladen Brunswick, New Hanover, Pender and Robeson are in the watch area, according to the National Weather Service. A tornado watch means conditions are favorable to the creation of tornadoes. A tornado warning means funnel cloud has been confirmed, and is generally issued for a specific area. Be...

Wet roads and driving too fast led to a fatal crash in Whiteville Sunday, according to police. Evelyn Young Pittman, 65, of Lake Waccamaw was traveling south on Franklin Street near Caldis when she lost control of her Kia at a “high rate of speed.” “The road way was wet at the time,” said Police Chief Paul Rockenbach in a press release. The Kia overturned and crashed just...