Bringing The World Home To You

© 2024 WUNC North Carolina Public Radio
120 Friday Center Dr
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
919.445.9150 | 800.962.9862
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Coal ash is the waste that remains when coal is burned. It is usually collected in a dump, known as a pond. North Carolina has more than 30 such sites in 14 different locations across the state. A pipe running under one of the ponds run by Duke Energy in Eden NC ruptured in February of 2014. The coal ash spilled, largely affecting the Dan River which flows into Virginia. The spill is the third largest of its kind in U.S. history.Many see potential complications because North Carolina's governor, Pat McCrory, worked for Duke Energy for 28 years.

North Carolina News Stories Of 2019 In Pictures

A massive pile of debris sits outside of town on Ocracoke Island as cleanup efforts continue a month after Hurricane Dorian. All of the waste must be collected and then loaded into trucks before being transported off the island by boat.
Madeline Gray
/
For WUNC

As the year comes to a close, we take a look at some of the photos that helped tell the story of 2019. From hurricanes to controversy over confederate monuments and a deadly gas explosion, here are the moments – big and small – that shaped the year in North Carolina news.

Hurricane Dorian sweeps across NC coast

On September 6, Hurricane Dorian swept over the North Carolina coast bringing with it 110 mph winds. The storm prompted extreme flash flooding on Ocracoke Island and spawned a tornado that tore through a trailer park on Emerald Isle. FEMA denied individual assistance to residents of four North Carolina counties including Hyde County, which includes Ocracoke Island. 

 

Acclaimed architect Phil Freelon dies at 66

Image of architect Phil Freelon with wife Nnenna Freelon
Credit Courtesy Sufis Doucet
After Phil Freelon was diagnosed with ALS, he decided to start a foundation with his wife Nnenna Freelon to support ALS research.

Phil Freelon, the decorated architect most celebrated for his work on the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History And Culture, died in July at 66 years old. The architect was diagnosed with the neuro-degenerative disease ALS in 2016, the same year the iconic museum opened to the public. Freelon, along with his wife Grammy award-nominated jazz singer Nnenna Freelon, continued to work on significant projects through his illness including opening the NorthStar Church of the Arts in Durham in 2019.

Confederate monuments come down and stay down

Silent Sam
Credit Gerry Broome / AP Photo
/
AP Photo
People gather near the remaining monument following a Monday night rally where the Confederate statue known as Silent Sam was toppled from it's pedestal by protesters at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018.

News around North Carolina's Confederate monuments continued to dominate the headlines in 2019. On the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's campus, the pedestal that once supported the controversial Silent Sam statue was lifted off the ground by maintenance crews on Jan. 15, as ordered by then-Chancellor Carol Folt. Folt also announced she was stepping down from her position. In December, UNC's Board of Governors announced the school would transfer $2.5M to the Sons of Confederate Veterans for the preservation of the statue.

Chatham Confederate Monument
Credit Leoneda Inge / WUNC
/
WUNC
The Confederate Monument in Chatham County was erected in 1907.

In Chatham County, a contentious Confederate monument outside of the Pittsboro's historic courthouse was removed Nov. 20 after a decision from Chatham County commissioners. The United Daughters of the Confederacy filed a lawsuit to have the statue reerected. In December, a judge threw out UDC’s suit and sided with the county, whose lawyer argued the statue still belongs to the UDC, and the county can declare it a public trespass. The statue was first installed in 1907.

Two die and four wounded in UNCC campus shooting

Charlotte Mecklenburg police on the scene of a shooting at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte on April 30, 2019.
Credit Courtesy Chris Crews / Niner Times
/
Niner Times
Charlotte Mecklenburg police on the scene of a shooting at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte on April 30, 2019.
A vigil with flowers and candles at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Credit Courtesy Nikolai Mather / Niner Times
/
Niner Times
Students at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte pay tribute to the six victims of a April 30, 2019 shooting. Four of the victims survived the attack, two others were killed.

On the last day of spring classes on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a man armed with a pistol opened fire on students killing two people and wounding four. The shooting prompted a lockdown and caused widespread panic across campus as students scrambled to take shelter. Riley Howell, a 21-year old student who was killed in the shooting, was hailed as a hero by the campus community for charging and tackling the shooter. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said Howell's actions likely saved the lives of other students.

Deadly Durham gas explosion

Scene of a gas explosion in downtown Durham on April 10, 2019
Credit Courtesy Nick Knittel
The owner of a Durham coffee shop died in a gas explosion in downtown Durham on April 10, 2019. Twenty-five others were injured including nine firefighters.

Two people were killed and more than two dozen injured on April 10, 2019 in a gas explosion and fire in downtown Durham. Kong Lee, the 61-year-old owner of Kaffeinate coffee shop, was killed in the blast. "I feel a real sense of loss and grief," said Durham Mayor Steve Schewel during an afternoon press conference the day of the explosion. "We've had a terrible tragedy today." Jay Rambeaut, a gas company worker, died weeks after the explosion from injuries he sustained in the incident. The explosion also decimated an entire building and severely damaged four others. 

Republican Dan Bishop wins out in contested 9th Congressional District

Credit Chris Seward / AP Photo
/
AP Photo
President Donald Trump, left, gives his support to Dan Bishop, right, a Republican running for the special North Carolina 9th District U.S. Congressional race as he speaks at a rally in Fayetteville, N.C., Monday, Sept. 9, 2019.

Conservative Republican Dan Bishop came out on top in a September special election in the scandal-plagued 9th Congressional District. He eked out a win against centrist Democrat Dan McCready and averted a demoralizing Democratic capture of a district the GOP has held for nearly six decades. Bishop tied himself tightly to Trump, who staged an election-eve rally for him in the district, and the vote seemed no less than a referendum on the president, who quickly took credit for the triumph.

Judges toss out NC's gerrymandered maps

In this July 26, 2017 photo, a member of the gallery tries to display her sign while lawmakers convene during a joint select committee meeting on redistricting in Raleigh, N.C.
Credit Gerry Broome / AP Photo
/
AP Photo
In this July 26, 2017 photo, a member of the gallery tries to display her sign while lawmakers convene during a joint select committee meeting on redistricting in Raleigh, N.C. North Carolina judges blocked the state's congressional map from being used in the 2020 elections, ruling that voters had a strong likelihood of winning a lawsuit that argued Republicans unlawfully manipulated district lines for partisan gain.

2019 was a monumental year for changes to North Carolina’s political maps. North Carolina judges blocked the state's congressional map from being used in the 2020 elections, ruling that voters had a strong likelihood of winning a lawsuit that argued Republicans unlawfully manipulated district lines for partisan gain. The decision came less than two months after judges struck down state House and Senate districts over extreme political manipulation of the lines.

 

NC GOP head indicted on bribery charges

In this June 3, 2017 file photo North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes speaks during the North Carolina Republican Party State Convention at the Wilmington Convention Center in Wilmington, N.C.
Credit Mike Spencer, File / AP Photo
/
AP Photo
In this June 3, 2017 file photo North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes speaks during the North Carolina Republican Party State Convention at the Wilmington Convention Center in Wilmington, N.C. Hayes admitted in court that he lied to federal agents conducting a bribery probe of a major political donor.

The Chair of North Carolina’s Republican Party Robin Hayes was indicted on charges including attempting to bribe the state’s insurance commissioner. Durham businessman and the state’s largest political donor Greg Lindberg, along with two of his associates: John Gray and John Palermo Jr. were also indicted. Hayes later admitted that he broke the law by lying to federal agents about his role in the bribery case. He also announced that he wouldn't seek reelection as party chair.  

Republican surprise veto-override

Rep. Deb Butler, a New Hanover County Democrat, yells at House Speaker Tim Moore.
Credit Courtesy Rep. John Autry, D-Mecklenburg
'This is a travesty of the process and you know it,' Rep. Deb Butler, a New Hanover County Democrat, yelled at House Speaker Tim Moore just before the House held a surprise vote and overrode Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of the state budget on Sept. 11, 2019.

In a nearly half-empty North Carolina House chamber, Republicans held a surprise vote and managed to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of the state's two-year budget. Republican leaders had spent months trying to persuade enough Democrats to meet the threshold for an override, and finally seized a moment when Democrats opposed to the budget weren't at their seats. "This is a tragedy. This is a travesty of the process and you know it," Rep. Deb Butler, a New Hanover County Democrat, yelled at Moore just before the vote began. "Mr. Speaker, how dare you, Mr. Speaker." A new state budget has yet to be enacted. 

North Carolina orders Duke Energy to excavate all coal ash

Duke Energy's coal burning plant and the adjacent coal ash ponds by the Dan River.
Credit Riverkeeper Foundation
Duke Energy's coal burning plant and the adjacent coal ash ponds by the Dan River.

In April, The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality ordered Duke Energy Corp. to excavate coal ash from all of its North Carolina power plant sites. The removal would slash the risk of toxic chemicals leaking into water supplies. Later that month Duke challenged the agency’s decision saying DEQ exceeded its authority in issuing the mandate. 

Reporters Jason deBruyn, Elizabeth Friend, Leoneda Inge, Will Michaels, and Editor Dave DeWitt contributed to this story, along with the Associated Press.

Laura Pellicer is a digital reporter with WUNC’s small but intrepid digital news team.
Related Stories
More Stories