July 14-15, 2009
Beach Plan insurance ‘fix’ approved
The North Carolina House of Representatives on Tuesday tentatively approved changes in Beach Plan insurance for coastal homeowners should a “catastrophic” hurricane hit the Outer Banks. Supporters say the revisions would spread the risk statewide.
Yet the so-called fix would also permit the ever increasing premiums for homeowners in 18 coastal counties who have seen the cost of their insurance double and even triple in the past five years. More...
Soundside swimming okay in Southern Shores
The state Division of Environmental Health has lifted Tuesday's 'no swimming' advisory reporting that bacteria levels are no longer unacceptable in the water at a popular swimming and picnic area off North Dogwood Trail.
Modern version of CCC Corps
These young people (click to enlarge photo) are members of what the National Park Service calls its YCC – Youth Conversation Corps – a reminder of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) of the Great Depression that built sand dunes to protect Cape Hatteras National Seashore and many other projects throughout the country.
Today’s YCC is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and on the Outer Banks is composed of area teenagers who the Park Service says “will be performing a variety of ‘hands on’ field work for eight weeks this summer
including work in park campgrounds, assembling new picnic tables, installing grills, site markers and other improvements.”
A New Record – for skinny dipping
Over the weekend 249 men and women (one report said 317) supposedly set a Guinness world record for mass skinny dipping in a pool at a nudist resort in the Ocean Isle Beach area. They shed their inhibitions and everything else as part of a national event billed as “The Largest Skinny Dip Across North America.”
Maybe they can get this state to issue a special license plate that instead of “First in Flight” proclaims North Carolina “First in Nudity.” More...
Your comments on this or any other story are welcomed at the bottom of this page in the Comments section.
$25 million for Nags Head pier draws protests
Critics are calling it North Carolina’s version of “the bridge to nowhere” and have mounted television and e-mail campaigns complaining that the project is a luxury the state can't afford when teachers are losing their jobs and public health services are being cut back.
“The fact that the pier sits in the district of powerful Senate leader Marc Basnight, a Manteo Democrat, adds fuel to the political fire,” according to Raleigh’s News & Observer.
Governor Perdue sends Basnight a plastic bag
Beverly Perdue and Senate president pro tem Marc Basnight shared a good laugh last November when she was elected governor. And recently Perdue, whose favorability rating has been slipping, did something she thought was funny.
After signing a ban on plastic shopping bags in Dare, Currituck and Hyde counties, effective Sept. 1, the governor sent the new law to Basnight – its originator – in a plastic bag.
Not everyone was amused, if a Civitas Institute poll of 600 voters in the affected counties is any indication: 58% were opposed to the ban, 31% supported it and 11% were unsure if it’s a good idea.
What does the ban involve? You can read the legislation here. (We have marked some key points in blue.)
Dare’s Unaffiliated voters now rank second
Voters registered in Dare County as Unaffiliated – what other states classify as Independent – now outnumber Republicans and have closed the gap with Democrats, the county’s traditional majority.
The current breakdown of the county’s 25,786 registered voters is 40% Democratic, 31% Unaffiliated and 29% Republican.
Ten years ago, Democrats were almost 52% of the electorate; Republicans 31%; Unaffiliated, Liberals and all others combined were just 17%.
Statewide in North Carolina the current breakdown is 46% Democratic, 32% Republican, and 22% Unaffiliated.
Bobby in Charge
Quietly, without fanfare, Bobby Outten became Dare County manager on the first of July, succeeding Terry Wheeler’s 18 years on the job. No big surprise because It was announced in December of last year that Outten would take over upon Wheeler’s retirement.
Obviously, county commissioners agreed with words attributed to Outten in a county press release Thursday: “With complex issues facing our county such as the Beach Plan insurance issue and the beach closures at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area, it seems ideal to have a person making decisions as a county Manager who is fully aware of all legal implications.’’
And not only that but an experienced hand, such as Outten, who has demonstrated the ability to explain the legal implications of complicated issues to county residents in layman’s terminology.
State DOT to take over Turnpike Authority
It’s intended as a cost-cutting move but Senate president Marc Basnight of Manteo, who favored creation of the Authority, says it won’t affect plans to construct a mid Currituck Sound bridge. More...
Anti-tax Hatteras Tea Party draws a crowd
Some 80 to 100 Hatteras Island residents and summertime visitors gathered at the Fessenden Center in Buxton on the Fourth of July to celebrate the holiday and display signs and banners saying they have been “Taxed Enough Already.” An Island Free Press report.
The Lone Survivor
(Click photo to enlarge)
The only survivor of the Fourth of July explosion at Ocracoke spoke a few words Tuesday from his bed at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill. “Everything was going fine in the first couple hours” Saturday morning, he said, as he and four workmates unloaded their 18-wheeler, laden with as much as five tons of fireworks for that evening’s display.
“Next thing you know, there was a big explosion.” That’s about all Martez Holland, 27, remembers. “I'm getting through this one day at a time,” he said shortly before undergoing more surgery for third-degree burns during what will be a lengthy recovery and rehabilitation period.
His uncle, who had recruited other members of the fireworks crew – in all, four men and a woman – from his small church in Goldsboro, succumbed to burns on 100 percent of his body.
The father of Charles Kirkland Jr., 49, who was killed instantly by the blast, said Terry Holland, 51, was hired by Melrose South Pyrotechnics of Catawba, South Carolina, to lead the crew for Ocracoke’s display and recruited members of The Lord's Table Church in Goldsboro, hoping to help them earn some extra money.
Lisa Simmons, 41, and Mark Hill, 21, died of their injuries.
North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin said Tuesday he was “shocked to find out there is no state law requiring any minimal training or licensing of (fireworks display) operators."
Safety was uppermost, however, and special arrangements were made to ferry the 18-wheeler and its combustible cargo to Okracoke. There were no passengers aboard and no other vehicles – other than the fireworks truck and two support vehicles with the Melrose crew of five – when the ferry left Hatteras for Ocracoke Island at 3:45 Friday afternoon.
“We wouldn’t allow any passengers on board for something like that,” said Lucy Wallace of the state Ferry Division at Mann’s Harbor, which was notified in advance of the truck’s arrival time from South Carolina.
“We followed regulations and protocol,” Wallace said, referring to Coast Guard rules for the transportation of fireworks, which must pass rigid federal government stress tests beforehand.
Federal agents have determined that the explosion was accidental. But the state is focused on the tragic church members who were hoping to earn a little extra money when hired to handle the fireworks that exploded prematurely at Ocracoke.
Dare County says ‘freedom at risk’ at Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Statement on the county website: “On July 4th when patriotic Americans will reflect upon freedom, the residents and visitors of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area will continue to be denied public access to key portions of the most popular area beaches because of a federal court-ordered consent decree.”
“The court order is the result of three environmental groups filing a damaging and expensive lawsuit against the National Park Service, which manages the recreational area. This lawsuit has had a devastating effect on the local, tourism-based economy.”
County commission chairman Warren Judge says, “The environmentalists are trying to fix something that wasn’t broken.” His statement and others are here.
Note: The area for comments on this story, or any others, is at the bottom of this page.
Bev wants a 1-cent state sales tax increase
Gov. Beverly Perdue informed legislative leaders by letter Tuesday she wants a 1-cent sales tax increase and a total tax increase of $1.6 billion to balance the North Carolina budget.
Legislators are still haggling over how to do that while the state operates under a temporary stop-gap spending measure.
Perdue, whom Raleigh’s News & Observer recently said has become the nation’s third most unpopular governor after only six months in office, wants a 50-cent-per-pack increase in cigarette taxes, down from the $1-per-pack she requested in March, plus 2-cents more on a can of beer and a 2% increase on alcohol.
In addition, she proposes tax increases that would take effect in the fall of next year, including taxes on some services (warranties, installations, repairs) and a tax increase on "luxury services" such as cosmetic surgery, limousines and chartered flights.
Junior Ranger aboard
National Park Service Ranger Liz Schilder tells Junior Ranger Julie Paris of Kill Devil Hills about Orville and Wilbur at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. The Park Service offers 78 free Junior Ranger programs throughout the summer for youngster, 5 to 13. Last week alone, 12,585 visitors attended 410 different programs at the National Memorial, Fort Raleigh and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore; and 483 children completed Junior Ranger programs. (NPS photo).
Black Bear in Kill Devil Hills
Heather Dobrow e-mails that “my husband took our new puppy out at around 9 p.m. and at the end of our driveway was a Black Bear. He was in our area for a good half-an-hour. We are located right off of Harbour View Drive. I heard about the bear sightings, just never thought I would see him myself. He was about 300 pounds and just so amazing to see.”
Thanks for the report, Heather, and be sure not to get near or feed the big guy. He was probably looking for food and may have spotted your puppy, or perhaps your husband.
Daily Reports
Avalon Fishing Pier Reports
Cape Hatteras Fishing Reports
Oregon Inlet Fishing Reports
Golf Courses, Conditions
N.C. Lottery Results
Things to See and Do:
* Mondays in July, Old Nags Head Family Fish Fry, 5-8 p.m., rain or shine at Saint Andrews by the Sea Episcopal Church with games and family entertainment. * Saturday and Sunday, July 18-19: Free Admission to the Wright Brothers National Memorial; also free admission August 15-16.
* Tuesdays: Bingo, Kill Devil Hills, at the Lions Club starting at 6:30 p.m.
* Wednesdays: Bingo, Kill Devil Hills, at the Colington Fire Department, 6:30 p.m., doors open at 5:30.
Links:
Currituck County
- Carova Corner
Dare County
- Animal Shelter and Adoptable Pets
- Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station
- Confederate Fortification Markers
- Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum
- Lighthouses
- N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island
- Outer Banks History Center
- Outer Banks Visitors Bureau
- Roanoke Island Festival Park
- The Lost Colony
Hyde County
- Ocracoke Newsletter
N.C. Fishing and Hunting Licenses
OBX Alert documents
Outer Banks Free Press
Outer Banks Marinas
Preserve Beach Access Campaign
Russ's Outer Banks Journal
The North Carolina House of Representatives on Tuesday tentatively approved changes in Beach Plan insurance for coastal homeowners should a “catastrophic” hurricane hit the Outer Banks. Supporters say the revisions would spread the risk statewide.
Yet the so-called fix would also permit the ever increasing premiums for homeowners in 18 coastal counties who have seen the cost of their insurance double and even triple in the past five years. More...
Soundside swimming okay in Southern Shores
The state Division of Environmental Health has lifted Tuesday's 'no swimming' advisory reporting that bacteria levels are no longer unacceptable in the water at a popular swimming and picnic area off North Dogwood Trail.
Modern version of CCC Corps
These young people (click to enlarge photo) are members of what the National Park Service calls its YCC – Youth Conversation Corps – a reminder of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) of the Great Depression that built sand dunes to protect Cape Hatteras National Seashore and many other projects throughout the country.Today’s YCC is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and on the Outer Banks is composed of area teenagers who the Park Service says “will be performing a variety of ‘hands on’ field work for eight weeks this summer
including work in park campgrounds, assembling new picnic tables, installing grills, site markers and other improvements.”
A New Record – for skinny dipping
Over the weekend 249 men and women (one report said 317) supposedly set a Guinness world record for mass skinny dipping in a pool at a nudist resort in the Ocean Isle Beach area. They shed their inhibitions and everything else as part of a national event billed as “The Largest Skinny Dip Across North America.”Maybe they can get this state to issue a special license plate that instead of “First in Flight” proclaims North Carolina “First in Nudity.” More...
Your comments on this or any other story are welcomed at the bottom of this page in the Comments section.
$25 million for Nags Head pier draws protests
Critics are calling it North Carolina’s version of “the bridge to nowhere” and have mounted television and e-mail campaigns complaining that the project is a luxury the state can't afford when teachers are losing their jobs and public health services are being cut back.
“The fact that the pier sits in the district of powerful Senate leader Marc Basnight, a Manteo Democrat, adds fuel to the political fire,” according to Raleigh’s News & Observer.
Governor Perdue sends Basnight a plastic bag
Beverly Perdue and Senate president pro tem Marc Basnight shared a good laugh last November when she was elected governor. And recently Perdue, whose favorability rating has been slipping, did something she thought was funny.After signing a ban on plastic shopping bags in Dare, Currituck and Hyde counties, effective Sept. 1, the governor sent the new law to Basnight – its originator – in a plastic bag.
Not everyone was amused, if a Civitas Institute poll of 600 voters in the affected counties is any indication: 58% were opposed to the ban, 31% supported it and 11% were unsure if it’s a good idea.
What does the ban involve? You can read the legislation here. (We have marked some key points in blue.)
Dare’s Unaffiliated voters now rank second
Voters registered in Dare County as Unaffiliated – what other states classify as Independent – now outnumber Republicans and have closed the gap with Democrats, the county’s traditional majority.
The current breakdown of the county’s 25,786 registered voters is 40% Democratic, 31% Unaffiliated and 29% Republican.
Ten years ago, Democrats were almost 52% of the electorate; Republicans 31%; Unaffiliated, Liberals and all others combined were just 17%.
Statewide in North Carolina the current breakdown is 46% Democratic, 32% Republican, and 22% Unaffiliated.
Bobby in ChargeQuietly, without fanfare, Bobby Outten became Dare County manager on the first of July, succeeding Terry Wheeler’s 18 years on the job. No big surprise because It was announced in December of last year that Outten would take over upon Wheeler’s retirement.
Obviously, county commissioners agreed with words attributed to Outten in a county press release Thursday: “With complex issues facing our county such as the Beach Plan insurance issue and the beach closures at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area, it seems ideal to have a person making decisions as a county Manager who is fully aware of all legal implications.’’
And not only that but an experienced hand, such as Outten, who has demonstrated the ability to explain the legal implications of complicated issues to county residents in layman’s terminology.
State DOT to take over Turnpike Authority
It’s intended as a cost-cutting move but Senate president Marc Basnight of Manteo, who favored creation of the Authority, says it won’t affect plans to construct a mid Currituck Sound bridge. More...
Anti-tax Hatteras Tea Party draws a crowd
Some 80 to 100 Hatteras Island residents and summertime visitors gathered at the Fessenden Center in Buxton on the Fourth of July to celebrate the holiday and display signs and banners saying they have been “Taxed Enough Already.” An Island Free Press report.
The Lone Survivor(Click photo to enlarge)
The only survivor of the Fourth of July explosion at Ocracoke spoke a few words Tuesday from his bed at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill. “Everything was going fine in the first couple hours” Saturday morning, he said, as he and four workmates unloaded their 18-wheeler, laden with as much as five tons of fireworks for that evening’s display.
“Next thing you know, there was a big explosion.” That’s about all Martez Holland, 27, remembers. “I'm getting through this one day at a time,” he said shortly before undergoing more surgery for third-degree burns during what will be a lengthy recovery and rehabilitation period.
His uncle, who had recruited other members of the fireworks crew – in all, four men and a woman – from his small church in Goldsboro, succumbed to burns on 100 percent of his body.The father of Charles Kirkland Jr., 49, who was killed instantly by the blast, said Terry Holland, 51, was hired by Melrose South Pyrotechnics of Catawba, South Carolina, to lead the crew for Ocracoke’s display and recruited members of The Lord's Table Church in Goldsboro, hoping to help them earn some extra money.
Lisa Simmons, 41, and Mark Hill, 21, died of their injuries.
North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin said Tuesday he was “shocked to find out there is no state law requiring any minimal training or licensing of (fireworks display) operators."Safety was uppermost, however, and special arrangements were made to ferry the 18-wheeler and its combustible cargo to Okracoke. There were no passengers aboard and no other vehicles – other than the fireworks truck and two support vehicles with the Melrose crew of five – when the ferry left Hatteras for Ocracoke Island at 3:45 Friday afternoon.
“We wouldn’t allow any passengers on board for something like that,” said Lucy Wallace of the state Ferry Division at Mann’s Harbor, which was notified in advance of the truck’s arrival time from South Carolina.
“We followed regulations and protocol,” Wallace said, referring to Coast Guard rules for the transportation of fireworks, which must pass rigid federal government stress tests beforehand.
Federal agents have determined that the explosion was accidental. But the state is focused on the tragic church members who were hoping to earn a little extra money when hired to handle the fireworks that exploded prematurely at Ocracoke.
Dare County says ‘freedom at risk’ at Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Statement on the county website: “On July 4th when patriotic Americans will reflect upon freedom, the residents and visitors of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area will continue to be denied public access to key portions of the most popular area beaches because of a federal court-ordered consent decree.”
“The court order is the result of three environmental groups filing a damaging and expensive lawsuit against the National Park Service, which manages the recreational area. This lawsuit has had a devastating effect on the local, tourism-based economy.”
County commission chairman Warren Judge says, “The environmentalists are trying to fix something that wasn’t broken.” His statement and others are here.
Note: The area for comments on this story, or any others, is at the bottom of this page.
Bev wants a 1-cent state sales tax increaseGov. Beverly Perdue informed legislative leaders by letter Tuesday she wants a 1-cent sales tax increase and a total tax increase of $1.6 billion to balance the North Carolina budget.
Legislators are still haggling over how to do that while the state operates under a temporary stop-gap spending measure.
Perdue, whom Raleigh’s News & Observer recently said has become the nation’s third most unpopular governor after only six months in office, wants a 50-cent-per-pack increase in cigarette taxes, down from the $1-per-pack she requested in March, plus 2-cents more on a can of beer and a 2% increase on alcohol.
In addition, she proposes tax increases that would take effect in the fall of next year, including taxes on some services (warranties, installations, repairs) and a tax increase on "luxury services" such as cosmetic surgery, limousines and chartered flights.
Junior Ranger aboardNational Park Service Ranger Liz Schilder tells Junior Ranger Julie Paris of Kill Devil Hills about Orville and Wilbur at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. The Park Service offers 78 free Junior Ranger programs throughout the summer for youngster, 5 to 13. Last week alone, 12,585 visitors attended 410 different programs at the National Memorial, Fort Raleigh and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore; and 483 children completed Junior Ranger programs. (NPS photo).
NPS Beach Access Report – July 9
Black Bear in Kill Devil Hills
Heather Dobrow e-mails that “my husband took our new puppy out at around 9 p.m. and at the end of our driveway was a Black Bear. He was in our area for a good half-an-hour. We are located right off of Harbour View Drive. I heard about the bear sightings, just never thought I would see him myself. He was about 300 pounds and just so amazing to see.”Thanks for the report, Heather, and be sure not to get near or feed the big guy. He was probably looking for food and may have spotted your puppy, or perhaps your husband.
Daily Reports
Avalon Fishing Pier Reports
Cape Hatteras Fishing Reports
Oregon Inlet Fishing Reports
Golf Courses, Conditions
N.C. Lottery Results
Things to See and Do:
* Mondays in July, Old Nags Head Family Fish Fry, 5-8 p.m., rain or shine at Saint Andrews by the Sea Episcopal Church with games and family entertainment. * Saturday and Sunday, July 18-19: Free Admission to the Wright Brothers National Memorial; also free admission August 15-16.
* Tuesdays: Bingo, Kill Devil Hills, at the Lions Club starting at 6:30 p.m.
* Wednesdays: Bingo, Kill Devil Hills, at the Colington Fire Department, 6:30 p.m., doors open at 5:30.
Links:
Currituck County
- Carova Corner
Dare County
- Animal Shelter and Adoptable Pets
- Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station
- Confederate Fortification Markers
- Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum
- Lighthouses
- N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island
- Outer Banks History Center
- Outer Banks Visitors Bureau
- Roanoke Island Festival Park
- The Lost Colony
Hyde County
- Ocracoke Newsletter
N.C. Fishing and Hunting Licenses
OBX Alert documents
Outer Banks Free Press
Outer Banks Marinas
Preserve Beach Access Campaign
Russ's Outer Banks Journal
Comments are welcomed below, and we always appreciate your e-mailing news tips, stories and photos of interest.
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