LUMINA NEWS YO U R C O A S TA L C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R S I N C E M AY 2 0 0 2
Source: National Weather Service
May 19–25, 2016
luminanews.com
Volume 15 | Issue 20 | 25¢
Adult coloring: an exercise in letting go
5K benefits, celebrates youth running programs
Page 6
Page 10
Diver swims under fire to end shooting episode at marina By Terry Lane Staff Writer
It was a typical Thursday afternoon at Wrightsville Marina when diver Chris Wilshire was working on cleaning a boat at the marina. Suddenly, an all-toofamiliar crack in the air brought Wilshire back to his Marine Corps training. “I heard the gunshots, heard the rounds whistle by,” Wilshire said. “They came in one after the other. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.” The next sound on April 28 wasn’t a whistle, it was a crack. With more than nine years’ experience as a Marine that included two tours of duty in Afghanistan, Wilshire understood what that meant. “When you hear a round whistle, you’re all right. When you hear it crack, it’s dangerously close,” Wilshire said. That round hit the boat down the dock from where Wilshire was standing, nearly hitting n See SHOOTING Page 5
New
By Emmy Errante Staff Writer
Staff photo by Allison Potter
Chris Wilshire swam from Wrightsville Marina to the spoil island across Motts Channel to stop two men who were firing rifles April 28. One of their shots hit a boat at the marina where Wilshire was working.
Researchers not likely to find cause of shark’s death By Terry Lane
restaurant approved for former Buddy’s location
Staff Writer
By Emmy Errante Staff Writer
The owners of a Wrightsville Beach restaurant will be opening a second eatery at 13 E. Salisbury St. in the building previously occupied by Buddy’s Crab House and Oyster Bar, near Johnnie Mercer’s Pier. Tom Kievit, manager of Coastal N.C. Real Estate LLC, recently bought the building and in February, Buddy’s moved out. The Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen voted unanimously May 12 to grant Kievit a conditional use permit to open a new restaurant there. His tenants will be Danny and Earl McPherson, owners of nearby King Neptune Restaurant. In addition to a dozen conditions the aldermen set on the permit, they took an additional step to alleviate fears that the restaurant would turn into a private club, as several other establishments around town have. They required that Kievit and his tenants sign an affidavit stating they would never apply for a private club permit from the ABC commission, meaning a certain percentage of their profits must always come from food sales. n See BUDDY’S Page 5
Bystanders rescue drowning man at Wrightsville
Supplied photo courtesy of UNCW marine biology department
A UNCW student helps document the bite marks on the great white shark that washed ashore on Wrightsville Beach on Dec. 7, 2015. Recent tests show that the bite marks were a result of sharks scavenging the carcass after it had already died and didn’t play a role in the animal’s still unknown death.
Drone helps WB prepare for hurricane season By Emmy Errante Staff Writer
While Wrightsville Beach hasn’t been in the direct path of a major storm for years, it is still important for both residents and the town to plan for one, said town manager Tim Owens as the state observed Hurricane Preparedness Week May 15–21. “Everyone who has property on the island or near the coast should have a contingency plan in place,” he said, “like making sure all your insurances are up to date.” Meanwhile, engineers are obtaining data to determine how storms affect beachfront homeowners’ natural barricade against storm surge: the beach and the frontal dunes. May 16, the engineers used a drone to map the south end of the beach while a survey crew on the ground mapped the north end. The Army Corps of Engineers teamed up with engineering and surveying firm McKim & Creed and geographic information systems company Esri to create the profile of the beach’s pre-hurricane season condition, which engineers can compare to a profile created after a storm to assess the damage. The beach is mapped every year, Owens said, but new technology like the drone has made the process
Sometime last fall, a great white shark in the Atlantic Ocean took a tremendous bite out of a 50-pound black drum, swallowing nearly two-thirds of the 4-foot-long fish. It was the last meal of the shark that on Dec. 7 would wash ashore on Wrightsville Beach, a University of North Carolina Wilmington biology professor studying the animal said this week. And while it looks likely that scientists will never be able to determine exactly how the female shark died, she is nonetheless revealing new details about her mysterious species and will help researchers across n See SHARK Page 5
A group of bystanders — that included a doctor and a nurse — pulled a drowning man out of the ocean at Wrightsville Beach’s Johnnie Mercer’s Pier Saturday, May 14, and gave him cardiopulmonary resuscitation until lifeguards arrived and restored his breathing and consciousness. The man was responding to questions when he was transferred off the beach. Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue Capt. Jeremy Owens gave credit to the beachgoers who brought him in and immediately started emergency medical treatment. “Getting those first breaths into him is paramount,” Owens said. “Thanks to the quick action of bystanders, it was the most positive outcome it could have been.” Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue personnel only monitor the beach until about 5 p.m., but Owens said they were still patrolling when a 911 call came in around 5:15 p.m. He described the situation when they arrived at Johnnie Mercer’s Pier a couple of minutes later as “chaotic” because a large group assisted in the rescue. The doctor and nurse were performing CPR on the man. Although he had a pulse, Owens said, he “was not breathing adequately.” The lifeguards ventilated him with a bag valve mask and were able to restore his breathing. By the time he was taken off the beach, he was conscious and speaking to rescuers. Owens said the incident “was definitely rip current related.” While the ocean surface was calm Saturday evening, there is a fixed rip current underneath Johnnie n See RESCUE Page 5
WB Farmers Market now open Hanchey’s Produce sells their wares at the Wrightsville Beach Farmers Market May 16 in Wrightsville Beach Park. The market is open on Mondays, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will run until September 26. ~ Emmy Errante
n See DRONE Page 5
Police Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 For the record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
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Lifestyles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Sports/Marine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
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