If you’ve listened to WHQR for any length of time, you probably know Philip Gerard as one of the regular commentators. But those three-and-a-half minute pieces are comparable to an amuse-bouche. The other courses Philip Gerard serves up include his work as a Professor of Creative Writing and Creative Non-Fiction at the University of North Carolina Wilmington in both the BFA and MFA programs.

This year’s flu is the worst in nearly a decade. So far this season, 63 elderly people have died in North Carolina alone from the flu. 25 people between the ages 50 to 64 have passed from the flu -- and four deaths fall into that low-risk category of people ages 25 to 49. The total death toll in North Carolina from flu this season: 95.

A third of the population in New Hanover County pays more than they can afford for housing. That’s true for both homeowners and renters, but in the rental market, it’s worse. Nearly half -- about 46% of people who rent in New Hanover County pay more than a third of their income for housing. Some community leaders call that a clear sign of a shortage of affordable housing. Often what comes to mind with the term “affordable housing” are images of bleak, run-down, tenement buildings with high crime

NASA ranks 2017 as the second hottest year on record behind 2016. The National Climate Assessment, a report published by the federal government in November of last year, states unequivocally that humans are causing climate change and the time to act is now. While there are no policy recommendations in this federal report, many state and municipal governments are taking their own steps to curb the impacts of climate change. Just this past July, the City of Wilmington adopted a measure to curb

The way judges wind up on the bench in North Carolina is changing this year. For one thing, elections will be partisan thanks to the passage of House Bill 100 last March. Governor Roy Cooper vetoed that bill, and the legislature easily overrode the veto the next day. Supporters contend partisan races give voters more information; opponents say they further politicize the court. The GOP-dominated legislature is also redrawing judicial districts. The current districts have been in effect since

Gentrification is a loaded word. It typically connotes a rise in property values in a traditionally low-income neigborhood. Wealthier people move in. Those who’ve lived there and are already struggling to pay bills from month to month can no longer afford to live there due to rising rents and property taxes. Affordable Housing is an equally loaded – and according to the old-school understanding of it -- stigmatized term. It used to mean public housing and conjure images of an economically

Update: On Thursday, January 18th, the Supreme Court granted a stay so that legislators do not have to meet the lower court's deadline. The Court is considering two other gerrymandering cases in Wisconsin and Maryland and offered no reason for its ruling. North Carolina State legislators were facing a tight deadline to redraw congressional districts. The late January deadline came from a ruling earlier this month by a three-judge panel that found North Carolina’s congressional districts to be

Men are taking on more responsibility in the household today than they did a generation ago. But according to the Pew Research Center, women are still doing the majority of the domestic work. That’s true across the spectrum – including couples in which both people work full-time outside the home. So what does this mean for a career professional who is female? While moving up the ladder, women also struggle with what sociologists call the “double bind”. It’s a pervasive cultural attitude, often

The number of people who identify as Christian is declining and a new category of ‘nones’, meaning “nothing in particular”, agnostic, and atheist, is growing. That’s according to a study by the Pew Research Center from 2015 called the American Religious Landscape Study. If the current trend stays the course, according to Pew, American society is likely to grow less religious even if today’s adults maintain their current level of commitment. So what do these changing religious views tell us about

New Hanover County, following the trend of many other states and municipalities, filed a lawsuit last month against opioid manufacturers and distributors. In the suit, the county alleges not just negligence by these huge drug companies; the county accuses them of unfair and deceptive trade practices, civil conspiracy, fraud and racketeering. Also in December, Brunswick County Commissioners passed a resolution indicating they might file their own suit in which they would seek damages from these