Throwback Thursday: Greenfield Lake mystery, courtroom cameras, and a unique pet law from 1987
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — This week’s Throwback Thursday looks back at three stories that made headlines across the Cape Fear in July 1987, including a mystery at Greenfield Lake, a major change inside the New Hanover County Courthouse, and a new ordinance aimed at protecting family pets.
The first story revisits an environmental mystery at Greenfield Lake, where city crews spent a day removing nearly 2,000 dead fish that had floated to the surface.
State officials investigated the cause of the fish kill while residents expressed concern about the lake’s health.
“Well, it tears me up because I know a lot of people who take little boats out there and fish and eat that fish,” one resident said in the 1987 report.
The incident prompted city leaders to invest in long-term improvements intended to reduce algae and improve water quality.
Another story from that month documented a milestone for North Carolina’s court system.
Television cameras were allowed inside a New Hanover County courtroom for the first time as part of a state pilot program to determine whether cameras would distract judges, attorneys, jurors or witnesses.
“I didn’t notice them. I don’t know whether you had them running or not, but it was fine. It didn’t bother me,” one participant said.
Today, cameras are commonly seen in many courtrooms across North Carolina.
The final story highlighted a newly approved New Hanover County ordinance that prohibited companies from purchasing cats and dogs for resale to research laboratories.
The measure followed reports that some residents’ pets had been unknowingly sold.
“I came home from work, and the neighbor girl told me that she had sold my cat to someone that, to this day, remains unknown to me, for $5,” one resident said.
The ordinance made it illegal for companies to buy cats and dogs in New Hanover County for resale to research laboratories.
The segment is part of a weekly Throwback Thursday series that features stories from WWAY’s historical news archives. That archive can be accessed here.
