Kelly Kenoyer

WHQR • 10th July 2026

Firings and reorganization have created a climate of fear and confusion in city hall, some employees say

More than a dozen current and former City of Wilmington staff have spoken to WHQR, describing deteriorating morale in the wake of Becky Hawke’s restructuring and terminations of previous staff.

WHQR • 12th June 2026

A parking reform bill has the backing of an unusual coalition: environmentalists, housing advocates, and developers

HB 369 is simple: it stops local governments from requiring a minimum number of parking spaces when developers build. It also makes modifications to stormwater regulations on redevelopment sites.Representative Donnie Loftis of Gaston County sponsored the bill after talking with staff from the Catawba Riverkeepers. Although it started as an environmental bill, developers and housing advocates are also pleased with the proposal.

WHQR • 20th March 2026

Leland Laptop debacle continues to escalate during heated meeting

A special council meeting on Wednesday, March 18 devolved into yelling and accusations of lies, followed by a 40-minute recess during which council and staff tried to come to some kind of an accord. At issue: the procurement of a laptop, and one council member’s efforts to get that laptop more quickly, even though it violated policy.In January, newly elected Leland Councilmember Frank Pendleton wanted a laptop. Council members are typically issued an iPad, so the town council took it to a vote o...

WHQR • 5th March 2026

NCDHHS reverses course on assistance cuts for rural homeless people

On January 26, housing providers across the state got a very concerning email that upended a program meant to give stability to people at risk of homelessness.The subject line read, “Immediate Corrective Action Required,” and the contents explained a need to suddenly cancel housing assistance for incoming clients and stop providing assistance to others already placed in rental homes. The clients would still receive the expected rental help in February, but some would lose their assistance the ve...

WHQR • 26th February 2026

Homelessness is at an all-time high. Seniors are no exception.

Army Veteran Ivory Giles has seen far too much death in his life. He picked up bodies for transport during Desert Storm, then worked in a children’s hospital with cancer patients. The strain of it pushed him to leave pharmaceutical work. "I couldn't watch the kids pass away like that," he said.He ended up working as an engineer in his home state of Michigan. But when Covid hit, death began to haunt him once again. "We were having funerals every other week."

WHQR • 27th January 2026

Wilmington's median income is on the rise. Here's how that messes with subsidized rents

Area Median Income is getting out of hand in Wilmington. Where a person making 30% of the AMI in 2015 would have earned just $13,300 a year, now that number is $22,750. That's a 71% increase in a decade. Consumer inflation went up just 35% in that time.

WHQR • 18th January 2026

Eagle's Dare is fighting to change city code to protect its cargo container

A local business owner is facing a violation from the City of Wilmington because of his use of a cargo container. Now, he’s asking the city to change its code to allow the creative use of the metal boxes in more places.

WHQR • 22nd December 2025

Evictions have risen to their highest rate in 13 years. Housing costs are likely to blame.

After a dramatic drop during the Covid-19 pandemic's eviction moratorium, evictions in North Carolina have rebounded — and then some. Data from the North Carolina Judicial Branch shows 4,133 evictions filed in fiscal year 24/25 in New Hanover County alone — the most filed in any year since statewide data became available. Across the entire state, there were 202,861 evictions filed in that same time period. The statewide trend is particularly strong in fast-growing counties around major metros, li...

WHQR • 19th December 2025

Invisible Homelessness: Working and unhoused in America

It’s been said before that homelessness is a housing problem, and there’s no bigger proof than the hundreds of thousands of Americans estimated to be homeless, but uncounted by the federal government.These are often people you’d never assume are homeless. They don’t fit the stereotypes, after all: they have jobs, they dress in clean clothing, they don’t sleep in the street. Instead, they crash with family or friends until they wear out their welcome, sleep in their cars, and sometimes live preca...

NPR • 22nd November 2025

How to properly fry a turkey

To convey the message that dropping a frozen turkey into boiling oil is not a good idea, one North Carolina county decided to conduct a demonstration.

WHQR • 13th October 2025

The Real Homeless Herald brings real-life experience to housed readers

Every Tuesday, staff of the Real Homeless Herald meet up in a back room of the Day Center in downtown Wilmington to plan out their upcoming issues. It’s a busy space: a homeless shelter where folks can get lunch, a cup of coffee, and some respite during the day.

WHQR • 30th September 2025

Affordable housing redevelopment of Azalea Inn gets pushback from community, councilman Kevin Spears

The proposed development would replace the old Azalea Inn on Market Street — a motel that was for many years a nuisance for the city. By right, land owners could rebuild a larger motel or other office building there — but to build a housing complex the property has to be rezoned. Notably, the rezoning vote was on the same night as a contentious ordinance impacting the homeless — so there were dozens of people in the audience with signs opposing homeless criminalization.

NPR • 25th September 2025

Dogs take over a public pool in North Carolina

AILSA CHANG, HOST: There is an annual tradition in Wilmington, North Carolina, called the Pooch Plunge. It's where the city invites dogs to its public pool before that pool is drained for the winter. Kelly Kenoyer from member station WHQR sniffed it out.

WHQR • 29th August 2025

Photos: A community of young Latinas and Latinos is keeping folkloric dance alive

In the basement of the Hannah Block USO Community Arts Center, a dozen girls and women whirl around in colorful skirts, dancing el Baile Folklórico. These are dances that originated in the pre-Spanish days in Latin America, a heritage hundreds or even thousands of years old.

WHQR • 15th August 2025

The U.S.S. North Carolina's ongoing battle: The test of time

The U.S.S. North Carolina is a piece of living history on the west side of the Cape Fear River — where children can often be seen aiming the anti-aircraft guns at buildings downtown. Built in 1937, the battleship was America's first fast battleship built for the needs of the Navy during World War II.

The Assembly NC • 11th August 2025

Rallying for the Rails

A project evaluating new intercity passenger rail lines across North Carolina is igniting new passion for an old form of transportation.

NPR • 20th July 2025

An invasive species of algae could be behind rising mercury levels in the food chain

Scientists are studying an invasive species of algae they believe can cause an increase in mercury levels in the food chain. From member station WHQR in Wilmington, North Carolina, Kelly Kenoyer explains.

WHQR • 22nd May 2025

Wilmington cyclists honor the dead with annual Ride of Silence

May is National Bike Month, which aims to promote the health benefits and fun of cycling. But it’s also a time to remember those who’ve lost their lives while cycling, particularly with the Ride of Silence.Tammy Swanson is the Education Chair of the Terry Benji Bicycling Foundation, named after a local cyclist who died in a crash in 2013. The group organized this year’s Ride of Silence.“I'm taking part because I ride these roads," she said. "I'm out here. I'm a mother, I'm a wife, I'm a grandmot...

NPR • 25th March 2025

Feral hogs are hard to catch, trappers are trying to outsmart them

Ever since they were introduced, feral hogs have spread to 35 states. Now, farmers think of the intelligent pigs as a menace and trappers are trying to outsmart them.

NPR • 8th November 2024

Affordable housing is even harder to build with climate change-driven insurance hikes

In Sun Belt states like North Carolina, developers of low-income apartments are abandoning coastal areas. There, climate change has pushed up sea levels up nearly a foot over the past seven decades. From member station WHQR in Wilmington, Kelly Kenoyer reports.

WHQR • 1st July 2024

Driftwood Apartments reopen after three years, housing the Wilmington community's most in need

Driftwood Apartments, located on a quiet street off Princess Place Drive, were originally conceived as permanent supportive housing.The federal government program mandated affordability- capped at 30% of a resident’s income, regardless of what that income was - for 15 years. But at the end of that term, the previous owners kicked most of the tenants out and tried to sell the complex on the private market.

WHQR • 6th June 2024

One year after the Pulp Road wildfire, Green Swamp Preserve has bounced back even better

Standing in the verdant meadows of the preserve, it’s hard to imagine the scene as an inferno. Last year’s Pulp Road Fire shocked the Cape Fear Region: thousands of acres of nature preserve went up in flames, casting ominous smoke clouds over Carolina Beach and the surrounding communities.A year on, things are looking a lot brighter.

NPR • 5th June 2024

Volunteers pick blueberries from a research farm for local food banks

A blueberry research farm in North Carolina can only donate — not sell — its berries, so volunteers help out by picking them for local food banks.MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: In rural North Carolina, a research farm grows new blueberry varieties for gardeners and farmers alike. And the berries - well, they have to be harvested. Reporter Kelly Kenoyer from member station WHQR went along on a recent picking.

WHQR • 3rd May 2024

Granny Flats: The secret solution to the housing crisis

The affordable housing crisis is national in scope, but it’s uniquely painful in the South because of low wages and surging demand. So what are some creative solutions to this rapidly growing and intractable problem? Backyard cottages? Flipping hotels into rental housing? Or building out job training programs? We asked smart people in the housing space what they consider the most effective strategies to improve housing with help from the New Hanover Community Endowment.