Shoresides

This episode, Shoresides captures a pivotal moment in AI policy as North Carolina State Representative Zack Hawkins discusses a federal proposal that would have blocked state-level AI regulation for a decade and drew bipartisan criticism. Speaking to Shoresides during the final hours of budget negotiations—before federal lawmakers would ultimately strip the moratorium from the bill—Hawkins warns about the risks of federal inaction, particularly for communities where AI is already changing how we live and work.

Rep Zack Hawkins: https://www.ncleg.gov/Members/Biography/H/742

State Policymaker Coalition Letter: https://ari.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/State-Policymaker-Coalition-Letter-Oppose-AI-Preemption-6-3-25.pdf

Senate strikes AI regulatory ban from GOP bill after uproar from the states https://apnews.com/article/congress-ai-provision-moratorium-states-20beeeb6967057be5fe64678f72f6ab0

Anthropic C.E.O.: Don’t Let A.I. Companies off the Hook
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/05/opinion/anthropic-ceo-regulate-transparency.html

Music Credit
“Sonik Elektronik” by 1000 Handz is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Available at the Free Music Archive. No changes were made.

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When a false shark sighting shut down Carolina Beach, the confusion that followed revealed something deeper: how much we rely on the local National Weather Service office and its communication networks to keep coastal communities safe. In this episode, Shoresides speaks with Stephen Pfaff, meteorologist-in-charge at the NWS-Wilmington, about the challenges of misinformation, the delicate partnerships that power coastal safety alerts, and why clear, effective communication can save lives.

Links:

Statement issued after increased shark activity observed in Carolina Beach surf

https://www.wect.com/2025/07/07/statement-issued-after-increased-shark-activity-observed-carolina-beach-surf/

Miscommunication over shark activity causes confusion at Carolina Beach

https://www.wect.com/2025/07/08/miscommunication-over-shark-activity-causes-confusion-carolina-beach/

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Public radio stations across North Carolina — especially in rural and coastal communities — are facing devastating funding cuts following the passage of the Rescissions Act of 2025. That includes WRVS in Elizabeth City, which could lose up to 70% of its funding. What does that mean for you and your neighbors? No local tornado warnings. No emergency alerts. No hometown voices spinning music, sharing stories, and delivering news from around the corner.

In this episode of Shoreside, host Nicholas Merino speaks with A. Rima Dael, CEO of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, about why these cuts could dismantle essential public safety infrastructure and silence vital community voices. Dael, a veteran of NPR and local radio, explains how local media is more than entertainment — it’s culture, it’s connection, and in some cases, it’s life-saving.

Hear why radio still matters — especially in North Carolina — and what you can do to support your public media in their work making waves. 

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When alligators show up in swimming pools, under cars, or at the local Bojangles drive-through, Kate Marshall gets the call. As Southport's jurisdictional alligator handler, she's seen relocations quadruple this year alone. She tells Shoresides all about what it's like.

Helpful Links

• North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission - Alligators
• NC Wildlife Coexist with Alligators Guide
• City of Southport Animal Services

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Lately, the town of Southport, North Carolina has had some excitement, 20 alligator removals since May, setting a new record. For a resident named Bonner Herring and his trusty Labrador Strike, that almost ended in tragedy. In this episode, Shoresides catches up with them to hear their story and to wonder about the prospect of increased human-alligator conflict in coastal communities.

Here are five key things to know about alligators in North Carolina:

1. Where Alligators Live in North Carolina

Alligators are native to the southeastern corner of North Carolina, primarily in the coastal plain. They are commonly found in:

• Swamps
• Marshes
• Rivers
• Lakes
• Canals

The northernmost limit of the American alligator's natural range includes parts of Brunswick, New Hanover, Pender, and Onslow counties, although occasional sightings occur farther north due to dispersal.

2. Alligators Are Protected

In North Carolina, alligators are classified as a species of special concern. This means:

• It is illegal to hunt, harm, harass, or kill them without a specific permit.
• The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission manages alligator populations through careful monitoring and regulated removals in cases where safety is at risk.
• In some years, the state authorizes limited hunting through an alligator management program, but only under strict controls.

3. Alligator Encounters Are Increasing

Due to rising populations and human development expanding into natural habitats, sightings have become more frequent. Important things to remember:

• Do not feed alligators—this is illegal and makes them more dangerous.
• Keep a safe distance (at least 60 feet).
• If you see an alligator near homes or public areas, report it to wildlife authorities if it poses a risk.

4. Alligators and Cold Weather

North Carolina is near the northern edge of the alligator's habitat, so they have unique ways of surviving winter:

• Alligators brumate, which is similar to hibernation, becoming inactive during cold months.
• They use a technique called “icing” or “snorkeling”, where they keep their snout above frozen water to breathe while remaining submerged beneath the ice.
• They can survive brief freezes, but prolonged cold can be fatal, which naturally limits how far north they can thrive.

5. Conservation and Coexistence

Alligators play an important role in the ecosystem by:

• Controlling prey populations (such as turtles, fish, and small mammals).
• Creating “gator holes”, which provide habitat for other wildlife during droughts.
  For safety and conservation:
• Never attempt to relocate or handle an alligator on your own.
• Teach children about alligator safety, especially near coastal waterways.
• Support conservation efforts that protect wetlands and preserve balanced ecosystems.

If you'd like, I can help you find local guides, safety tips, or educational resources for schools and community groups in North Carolina. Would you like me to gather those?

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In this episode of Shoreside, host Nicholas Merino explores the long-standing struggle for food access in Wilmington’s Northside neighborhood—classified by the USDA as a food desert. But as guest Sierra Washington, Executive Director of the Northside Food Co-Op, explains, “desert” doesn’t begin to capture the systemic inequality at play. Instead, she and many others call it “food apartheid”—the result of deliberate disinvestment and structural racism.

Through deeply rooted community organizing, Northside residents are reclaiming their health and dignity by building a grocery store of their own. The Northside Food Co-op isn’t just a retail space—it’s a symbol of economic empowerment and resilience, owned and shaped by the very people it serves. From participatory design and workforce development to the tension between grassroots ownership and institutional funding, this conversation reveals what it truly takes to build community-led infrastructure.

Join us as we trace the co-op’s history—from broken promises of chain store developments to the gathering of neighbors at the Foxes Boxes restaurant—and follow the journey toward the store’s projected 2026 opening at 10th and Post Street. 

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In this final episode of Temperature Check: Coastal Edition, host Natalia Sanchez Loayza steps into one of North Carolina’s most cherished traditions: high school sports. But instead of focusing on touchdowns and rivalries, she takes us behind the scenes to examine how climate change is reshaping the very conditions under which student athletes train and compete.

Natalia sits down with Jana Fonseca, Director of Health, Safety, and Wellness at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) and a licensed athletic trainer.

Through Fonseca’s lens, we learn how rising temperatures and humidity are changing the rhythms of high school sports. Extreme heat doesn’t just disrupt practices—it poses real danger. Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are now seasonal concerns that schools must actively prepare for. Fonseca breaks down how policies, like the wet bulb globe temperature guidelines and exercise acclimatization protocols, are being implemented (and sometimes challenged) across a state where climate conditions can differ dramatically from the mountains to the coast. Fonseca reflects on the critical role of athletic trainers and the need for more resources and education, especially in underserved areas.

And then she connects it all back—to farmworkers, to construction crews, to anyone laboring outdoors in the Southern heat. The same attention given to student athletes, she suggests, should be extended to those whose jobs expose them to similar risks.

As Temperature Check: Coastal Edition concludes, this episode reminds us that climate change isn’t only transforming the natural world—it’s redefining how we live, play, work, and care for one another.

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In this episode of Temperature Check: Coastal Edition, host Natalia Sanchez Loayza takes us on a journey into the heart of rural North Carolina alongside Jeanette Tapia, outreach coordinator for the North Carolina Farmworkers Project in Harnett County. We spend the day in the field witnessing firsthand the dedication and determination of a team working to protect the health of the state’s most vulnerable labor force: farm workers.

With more than two decades of experience and deep roots in her community, Tapia has helped shape a mobile health system that reaches thousands of agricultural laborers across five counties. Whether it’s transporting a patient to a dentist visit, checking blood pressure on the roadside, or translating storm alerts into Spanish over WhatsApp, Tapia and her team are redefining what community health looks like under extreme circumstances.

As we ride along for a Wednesday outreach shift, we witness the effects of long droughts followed by sudden storms—weather patterns intensified by climate change—on both crops and the workers’ physical and mental health. The team faces all-too-familiar barriers: fear of employers, cultural stigma, lack of transportation, and language obstacles. Still, they persist, carrying water, medical tools, and boundless patience as they crisscross dusty fields and rural backroads.

Tapia emphasizes that these workers are not victims. They are resilient, resourceful, and wise. But they are also at risk. Rising heat, pesticide exposure, green tobacco sickness, and chronic illness all converge in the fields. “If you don’t have health, you don’t have work,” Tapia reminds each person she meets. 

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In this episode of Temperature Check: Coastal Edition, host Natalia Sanchez Loayza shifts the focus inland to explore the profound impact of climate change on North Carolina’s farm workers. She speaks with Mario Vargas, coordinator of the North Carolina offices of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) and the Campaign for Migrant Worker Justice (CMWJ).

Born in Tamaulipas, Mexico, Vargas began working in the fields at age 12, joining his mother and eight siblings in the seasonal migration circuit that stretched from Florida to Michigan. For 15 years, he picked crops like tomatoes, onions, peaches, apples—and tobacco, one of North Carolina’s most demanding and dangerous harvests. 

Vargas reflects on the harsh realities of farm work—from unpaid wages to threats of deportation—and how those experiences propelled him into organizing. Now, as a leader in migrant labor justice, he sees the effects of climate change accelerating: extreme heat, flooding, and unpredictable growing seasons are disrupting harvest schedules and leaving workers without jobs—or worse, endangering their lives.

Vargas shares how workers sleep ten to a trailer and how lack of language access and fear of retaliation compound already dangerous conditions. He shares how he and his team took it upon themselves to translate storm alerts into Spanish and distribute them by text and WhatsApp when Tropical Storm Debbie struck—because they worried no one else was going to do it.

10 Facts About Farm Labor and Migrant Workers in North Carolina

1. North Carolina is one of the top agricultural states in the U.S., producing major crops like sweet potatoes, tobacco, cucumbers, and Christmas trees.
2. Over 80,000 farmworkers labor in North Carolina’s fields each year, many of whom are seasonal and migrant workers.
3. Roughly 90% of North Carolina’s farmworkers are foreign-born, and most are from Mexico and Central America.
4. The majority of farmworkers in NC earn below the poverty line, despite working long hours in physically demanding conditions.
5. More than 40% of North Carolina farmworkers live in substandard housing, often in overcrowded, poorly ventilated trailers or barracks.
6. Tobacco remains one of the most hazardous crops to harvest, exposing workers to heat stress and nicotine poisoning—called “green tobacco sickness.”
7. Farmworkers are excluded from many federal labor protections, including the right to overtime pay and, in many states, collective bargaining.
8. Climate change is shortening harvest windows, making it harder for workers to plan migration routes and secure consistent wages.
9. North Carolina is one of the top states using H-2A guestworker visas, bringing in tens of thousands of temporary agricultural workers annually.
10. Organizations like FLOC play a critical role in advocating for farmworker rights, offering mediation, translation, food assistance, and health information during extreme weather events and public health crises.

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In this episode of Temperature Check: Coastal Edition, host Natalia Sanchez Loayza dives beneath the surface to explore how climate change is disrupting marine life and infrastructure along North Carolina’s coast. She’s joined by Dr. Jane Harrison, an environmental economist at NC State University, whose personal story and professional research illuminate the complex intersections of climate, economy, and community.

Dr. Harrison reflects on her environmentally rich upbringing and explains how sea level rise and intensified storms are degrading rural septic systems—posing hidden threats to water quality and development. She outlines how these often-overlooked systems are increasingly failing in coastal areas, complicating housing and public health.

The episode also spotlights Harrison’s work with the North Carolina Oyster Trail, revealing how oysters—vital to both local culture and marine ecosystems—are struggling against climate-induced challenges. From habitat loss to harvesting delays after major storms, oysters offer a lens into the broader environmental and economic shifts underway.

Join us for a thought-provoking exploration of coastal resilience, wastewater policy, and the delicate balance between environmental protection and economic survival in Eastern North Carolina.

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