Brunswick County

Shows the brightly colored "windseeker" ride at Carowinds, where red seats suspended from a blue column swirl high in the air.

Coronavirus Today – Sep 30 Bars, movie theaters, amusement parks reopening; NC stable but warning signs of spikes; Swing state with COVID-19

September 30, 2020 by Anne Blythe Leave a Comment

Coronavirus Today – Sep 30 Bars, movie theaters, amusement parks reopening; NC stable but warning signs of spikes; Swing state with COVID-19 - North Carolina Health News

Gov. Roy Cooper turned the ‘dimmer switch’ another notch to reopen bars, theaters, amusement parks at limited capacity.

By Anne Blythe North Carolinians will be able to return to bars with outdoor seating, movie theaters, outdoor amusement parks, sports stadiums and other entertainment venues after Friday, with some limitations, thanks to the coronavirus. Gov. Roy Cooper told reporters on Wednesday that North Carolina’s COVID-19 trends and metrics are stable enough to move into […]

When the water at the Sanford water plant in September, it had high rates of PFAS

State lawmaker says fighting PFAS in NC will require more than enforceable standards

September 10, 2020 by Greg Barnes

State lawmaker says fighting PFAS in NC will require more than enforceable standards - North Carolina Health News

Rep. Pricey Harrison would welcome new maximum contaminant levels for certain types of PFAS, but she worries that industries would just switch to another PFAS compound, resulting in a game of whack-a-mole. Part 2 of 2

By Greg Barnes Months after DuPont bought the rights to produce Perfluorooctanoic acid (known as PFOA or C8) from Minnesota’s 3M Corp. in 2002, DuPont discovered that the suspected carcinogen used to make Teflon had leaked into the groundwater under the company’s Fayetteville Works plant. Except for some local newspaper articles and rumblings from environmental […]

shows large storm approaching the north carolina coast

Coronavirus Today – Aug. 3 – Awaiting Isaias; Curfews and evacuations; Landfall in southeastern NC?

August 3, 2020 by Anne Blythe

Coronavirus Today – Aug. 3 – Awaiting Isaias; Curfews and evacuations; Landfall in southeastern NC? - North Carolina Health News

North Carolina awaits the dawn after its first major storm amid the coronavirus pandemic.

By Anne Blythe As Tropical Storm Isaias gets closer to North Carolina’s southeastern coastline, where it is expected to come ashore later tonight, Gov. Roy Cooper has cautioned people not to get caught up in weather semantics. Isaias rose out of a tropical wave off the African coastline and organized into a tighter storm with […]

Shows two women in a lab, manipulating tools in order to test water samples, which are arranged on the tabletop

Research suggests link between PFAS contamination and the coronavirus

July 13, 2020 by Greg Barnes

Research suggests link between PFAS contamination and the coronavirus - North Carolina Health News

Studies say people with high levels of PFAS in their systems could be more susceptible to contracting COVID-19.

By Greg Barnes John Wolfe doesn’t know what else he can do to protect himself against the coronavirus. The Wilmington boat captain follows all of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. He wears a mask and requires tourists on his boat to do the same. He practices social distancing and washes his hands […]

A sign that says "New Hanover Regional Medical Center"

Novant seeks to edge the competition over New Hanover Regional with a medical education plan

May 22, 2020 by Liora Engel-Smith

Novant seeks to edge the competition over New Hanover Regional with a medical education plan - North Carolina Health News

Novant Health and UNC Health have offered to bolster New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s medical education programs if the Wilmington hospital chooses them for a future affiliation, sale or merger.

By Liora Engel-Smith Novant Health will partner with UNC Health to bolster medical education programs at New Hanover Regional Medical Center if the Wilmington health system chooses to affiliate, sell or merge with the Winston-Salem-based nonprofit system. Novant and UNC signed a letter of intent that outlines enhancements to medical education and clinical services at […]

intensive care unit beds will be in short supply in case of coronavirus

Millions of older Americans live in counties with no ICU beds as pandemic intensifies

March 22, 2020 by Kaiser Health News

Millions of older Americans live in counties with no ICU beds as pandemic intensifies - North Carolina Health News

N.C. DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen said the state was talking daily with hospitals about how to increase capacity of ICU beds for the seriously ill coronavirus patients they expect to arrive.

By Fred Schulte, Kaiser Health News and Elizabeth Lucas, Kaiser Health News and Jordan Rau, Kaiser Health News and Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News and Jay Hancock, Kaiser Health News March 20, 2020 More than half the counties in America have no intensive care beds, posing a particular danger for more than 7 million people […]

A faucet with water flowing from it, as an illustration for drinking water contamination, with substances such as 1,4 dioxane and PFAS

School boards eye filtration to remove PFAS

February 28, 2020 by Coastal Review Online

School boards eye filtration to remove PFAS - North Carolina Health News

Amidst growing PFAS concerns, schools in New Hanover and Brunswick Counties are planning to install new water filtration systems in their water.

By Kirk Ross Coastal Review Online Schools in New Hanover and Brunswick counties are installing new water filling stations and special filters in reaction to continuing concerns about levels of industrial contaminants found in drinking water systems. The move to reduce per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, comes after a nationwide report again highlighted high […]

four scientists sit at a table where they discuss water pollution

Not all in-home water filters completely remove toxic PFAS

February 6, 2020 by Greg Barnes

Not all in-home water filters completely remove toxic PFAS - North Carolina Health News

A new study finds that under-the-sink reverse osmosis systems work best at removing “forever chemicals,” but they aren’t cheap.

By Greg Barnes Not all types of in-home filters are completely effective at removing “forever chemicals” from drinking water, and a few could do more harm than good if not properly maintained, according to a new study released Wednesday by North Carolina researchers. Water filters in refrigerators, pitcher-style filters, under the sink reverse osmosis systems […]

New DEQ data show ‘staggering’ levels of PFAS in Cape Fear River basin

February 3, 2020 by Greg Barnes

New DEQ data show ‘staggering’ levels of PFAS in Cape Fear River basin - North Carolina Health News

The DEQ required 25 utilities in the basin to test for “forever chemicals” at their sewer treatment plants for three months. One scientist called the results of those tests “incredibly high.”

By Greg Barnes A water sample taken in September from the Sanford sewage treatment plant that discharges into Deep River uncovered “staggering” concentrations of forever chemicals, newly released documents from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality reveal. The sample contained perfluorooctanesulfonic acid — or PFOS — measuring 1,000 parts per trillion. That is more than […]

Water over a flooded road looks like a river

Youth voices from North Carolina’s hurricanes – Part 2

January 2, 2020 by Editor

Youth voices from North Carolina’s hurricanes – Part 2 - North Carolina Health News

NC Health News worked with Wilmington-based Coastal Youth Media to hold a workshop this fall with a group of young people from southeastern counties. Journalists and community organizers worked with these high school students to help them write essays on how they and their families made it through 2018's Hurricane Florence. For this holiday week, we present their stories.

Worry, relief, heartbreak. All in one storm. By Shecoria Smith When I heard the rain, I worried most about my dad. He had traveled across the country to California for work in the days before the hurricane. I thought it would be months before I saw him again. A few days later those worried feelings […]

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