How does this site work?

Got a question about life in coastal North Carolina? Our staff of professional journalists are here to help you get the answer.

Think of us as your personal reporters. Come here to find answers to questions about life in coastal North Carolina, whether it's dealing with local government, finding things to do or finding out about the people, places, history and culture that make us so unique.

And if you can't find what you're looking for, ask! We'll try to track down the answer and add it to our constantly growing browseable and searchable knowledge base.

There are two basic parts of MyReporter.com:

1. Browsing/searching for already-answered questions

We've already posted hundreds of answers to questions on a wide variety of topics. While we're far from done, take a look and see if we've already answered your question. Here's how to do it:

Search

We're still working on fine-tuning our search. For now, we've tried to configure it so that the most accurate searches come up first. It works best when you search for a few words that are likely to be in the answer. For example, if you're searching for information on how to register to vote, you'll have better luck by entering "register vote" (without the quote marks) as opposed to asking a question like "How do I register to vote?"

Browse

You'll see that we're organized by topic. Some answers may be under more than one topic to make them even easier to find. Click on the "More topics" to see a list of all of them. Then, click the topic you think your question might fit under. Still not there? And you've searched? Well then, let's talk about ...

2. Submitting a new question

MyReporter.com is all about giving you access to the skills of trained journalists. There's no way we've covered everything people need to or want to know about living in our communities. That's where you come in. Just click on the button at the top of every page that says "Click here to ask a question." Fill out the form that appears. You'll need to include an e-mail address so that we can contact you to let you know the status of your answer. We won't use this information for any other purpose, but you have to provide a valid e-mail address.

We'll try to respond within 24 hours (longer on weekends or holidays).

Keep in mind that we can't solve personal issues or and we probably can't help you deal with a dispute. We try to limit our service to issues that will be relevant to a broad range of people. Even so, we'll respond to all reasonable requests, even if it's to tell you that we can't answer your question, and we'll always try to point you to people, agencies or other resources that might be able to help.

MyReporter.com is a product of the StarNews and StarNewsOnline.com.
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Wilmington, NC 28401

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