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New mosque to be built in Wilmington

Submitted by Nadine Maeser, Reporter, News Producer
Friday, August 24th, 2012, 4:14pm

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – The City of Wilmington has given the green light on permits to build a new mosque in the area.

The mosque will be built off of Sunn Aire Court and Princess Place Drive and will be the start of something new for the local Muslim community.

The holy building will be the first of its kind in the area, featuring an arched dome to give it a more Islamic feel.

Ronald Sparks of Sparks Engineering PLLC is heading up the project. He says a portion of the building is slanted toward Mecca, so when you look at the building it will be like an L shape.

Some people who live by are excited to see the finished product and the diverse culture it will bring. Others, however, have raised concerns over traffic and parking.

Regardless, the mosque will be built and city leaders hope it will open new doors to the community.

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City leaders give traffic cams the green light

Submitted by Sanah Sayani, Multimedia Journalist
Tuesday, August 21st, 2012, 11:53pm

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - City council members unanimously approved to renew the Safe Light contract which will keep red light cameras in place at 13 intersections in the city. It will cost the city around $480 thousand dollars to continue using the cameras.

Statewide, red light cameras are disappearing. The city of Cary decided to pull the plug earlier this month.

The Safe Light Program, more commonly known as red light cameras, generates hundreds of thousands of dollars for the county school system.

According to city staff members, that amount reached nearly $800 thousand dollars during the last budget year.

"There's a lot of people I notice run red lights," said Wilmington driver Daniel Sausman. "We need to slow people down."

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DOT extends overnight lane closure on Cape Fear Memorial Bridge

Submitted by Debra Worley, Digital Content Director
Wednesday, August 8th, 2012, 9:32am

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – If you travel across the Cape Fear
Memorial Bridge at night, you'll have to continue to deal with lane closures in
the eastbound lane.

According to the DOT, the night time eastbound lane closures
will extend until Thursday from 8:00 p.m. – 5:00 a.m. each night to perform
bridge maintenance.

The DOT is suggesting the following detour:

US
17/74/133/421 to MLK, to College, to Oleander, and back to US 17 Business

The
NCDOT reminds motorists to STAY ALERT, encourages motorists to use alternate
routes when possible during this period, drive with caution, obey the posted
speed limits, and allow extra travel time.

Copyright 2012 WECT. All rights reserved.

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Driver crashes into fountain at 5th and Market

Submitted by Debra Worley, Digital Content Director
Monday, August 6th, 2012, 2:20pm
Driver crashes into fountain at 5th and Market

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – A vehicle crashed into the fountain in the middle of the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Market Street early Saturday morning, leaving a significant amount of damage.

According to Cpl. Kevin Smith with the WPD, a Suzuki hit the fountain around 4:45 a.m.

The vehicle had four people inside, one of whom was taken to the hospital. The driver, Joshua Wayne Webb, 28, was arrested on suspicion of DWI. Smith said the other two occupants left the scene before officers arrived.

Webb was chaged with driving while impaired, and is currently at the New Hanover County Jail under a $500 bond. 

The water in the fountain was turned off due to the damage and will stay off until repairs are made.

Copyright 2012 WECT. All rights reserved.

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WFD rescue homeless woman from Cape Fear River

Submitted by Debra Worley, Digital Content Director
Monday, August 6th, 2012, 1:57pm

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – Firefighters with the Wilmington Fire Department helped rescue a homeless woman who was clinging to a wooden piling in the Cape Fear River early Sunday morning.

According to Cpl. Kevin Smith with the WPD, a passerby heard a woman calling for help from the water along Riverfront Park in the area of the USCG Dilligence. Firefighters helped Mary Strable, 42, climb out of the river. Strable was taken to the hospital where she was evaluated and treated.

According to Smith, Strable told officers she is homeless and was the victim of a common law robbery earlier in the day.

Strable told authorities she fell in the river, but officers have reason to believe she may have jumped. Officials say she was heavily intoxicated and seemed depressed at the time she was pulled from the river.

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Improvements to Dram Tree Park are almost finished

Submitted by Debra Worley, Digital Content Director
Wednesday, August 1st, 2012, 8:13am
Improvements to Dram Tree Park are almost finished

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – Improvements to Dram Tree Park are nearing completion, according to the City of Wilmington.

Paving is underway and the parking lot is expected to open for public use sometime in August.

The improvement project, which began in March 2012, also includes the installation of an underground stormwater retention tank to capture untreated stormwater runoff before it drains directly into the nearby Cape Fear River.

The city completed the first phase of renovations to the park, boat ramp and kayak launch in October, 2010.

Copyright 2012 WECT. All rights reserved.

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Traffic Advisory: Expect delays near MLK Pkwy

Submitted by Debra Worley, Digital Content Director
Thursday, July 19th, 2012, 9:27am
Traffic Advisory: Expect delays near MLK Pkwy

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WECT) – One lane of Martin Luther King Parkway will be closed Thursday morning for bridge maintenance.

The NCDOT will close one of two lanes of eastbound traffic from 9 a.m. to noon to allow crews to perform routine maintenance on a MLK Parkway/U.S. 74 bridge that crosses McRae Street.

At least one lane will remain open during the work period.

Copyright 2012 WECT. All rights reserved.

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