Wilmington looks to swap word that may have prevented rental ruling

The City of Wilmington Planning Commission will eye revisions to its short-term rental policies Wednesday to bring some regulations in line with state statutes.

One of the most significant proposed changes is switching out the term “registration” for “permit” in the ordinance, which may have prevented a Superior Court judge from striking down the ordinance earlier this year, according to a UNC School of Government blog post. READ MORE

In Photos: Communities In Schools’ 2021 Wrightsville Plunge

Hundreds of brave people kicked off 2021 with an icy dip into the Wrightsville Beach surf on a mid-50s New Year’s Day.

For the sixth year, Communities In Schools of Cape Fear held its Wrightsville Plunge to raise money for its programs that support vulnerable students in local public schools. This year the event was held in a socially-distanced fashion, with participants diving in smaller groups, and three different plunge times to limit crowds (plungers briefly removed their masks before running into the water and masked back up upon return to land). READ MORE

Lobster Dogs rolls its fresh eats into Wilmington Sunday

Austin Herndon and Amanda Chason will be prepping 100 or so pounds of lobster for Wilmington’s launch of the food truck Lobster Dogs on Sunday. The franchised mobile eatery will make its debut with lobster, crab and shrimp rolls at Flying Machine Brewing Company on Jan. 3 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

“It’s the most people we’ve ever served, if they all show up,” Herndon said. READ MORE

In Pictures 2020: The pandemic, protests, an election year and a hurricane [Free]

It may be already cliché to describe how odd 2020 was, so perhaps we’ll just show you.

This year marked a strange time for Port City Daily photojournalists, who had to find creative ways to capture a pandemic that was, at first, mostly invisible. READ MORE