Featured Outer Banks News

What's New

Charlotte Hood Alexander

March 21, 2019 | Obituaries

KILL DEVIL HILLS – Charlotte Hood Alexander, 77, passed away March 19, 2019 in Nags Head surrounded by her family and friends. She was the daughter of the late James Garland Hood and Charlotte Hood. Charlotte was born in Richmond, VA and attended St. Catherine’s High School and Mary Washington College where she earned a [...] Obituaries |  Full Article

NPS Approves Plan for New Hunt Blind and Wildlife Viewing Platform

March 19, 2019 | Local News

The National Park Service (NPS) has approved a plan to construct a new accessible hunt blind and wildlife-viewing platform within an authorized Cape Hatteras National Seashore waterfowl hunting area on Bodie Island. Following preparation of an environmental assessment (EA) with public review, a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Floodplain Statement of Findings was [...] Local News |  Full Article

Robert B. Bates

March 18, 2019 | Obituaries

FRISCO — Mr. Robert B. Bates passed away suddenly Friday, March 15, 2019 in Frisco, NC. He was 92 and preceded in death recently by his wife, Doris. Robert was born in in Oklahoma. He was a retired Naval officer who served his country bravely in World War II. He also completed law school and [...] Obituaries |  Full Article

Shells from around the world to be auctioned at Shell Club meeting ...

March 18, 2019 | Hatteras Features | From The: Ocracoke Observer

A special live auction of shells from around the world will highlight the North Carolina Shell Club meeting in the evenings of March 29 and 30 in the Ocracoke Community Center. Members and nonmembers are invited to attend each night. Several shell collections were donated to the club this year, said Dora Zimmerman, president, and [...] Hatteras Features |  Full Article

Photoshoot and Presentation Provide More Local Voices Against Offs ...

March 20, 2019 | Local News | By: Joy Crist | 1

A photoshoot and presentation aimed at garnering more local voices for the fight against offshore drilling and seismic testing was held in Hatteras village on Tuesday night, attracting roughly 40 community members who posed for the camera. The photoshoot is part of a years-long campaign orchestrated by Not the Answer NC, which showcases the faces [...] Local News |  Full Article

NPS Approves Plan for New Hunt Blind and Wildlife Viewing Platform

March 19, 2019 | Local News

The National Park Service (NPS) has approved a plan to construct a new accessible hunt blind and wildlife-viewing platform within an authorized Cape Hatteras National Seashore waterfowl hunting area on Bodie Island. Following preparation of an environmental assessment (EA) with public review, a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Floodplain Statement of Findings was [...] Local News |  Full Article

Chicamacomico Banks VFD Garners Better Rating, and Better Insuranc ...

March 8, 2019 | Local News | By: Joy Crist | 2

Results from a state insurance rating inspection conducted in November of the Chicamacomico Banks Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) were recently released, and the department received a stellar “4” rating which could positively impact homeowners’ insurance rates in the Tri-villages. The inspection, formally known as an “evaluation of the fire insurance classification,” is required on a [...] Local News |  Full Article

National Seashore Updates for the Week of March 21

March 21, 2019 | Seashore News

The Cape Hatteras National Seashore (CHNS) announced several recent updates and news items related to recreational activities and seashore conditions on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands. Updates and upcoming events for the week of March 21 include the following: Seashore Updates The Bodie Island and Cape Hatteras Lighthouses will open for climbing from April 19 through October 14. Opening day is a fee free day. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse made its epic “move of the century” journey in June and July 1999. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the move, park rangers will present daily interpretive lighthouse move programs beginning May 3 and continuing through October 14. Additional interpretive programming and a special anniversary event will be held between June 17 and July 9 (the same dates as the lighthouse move in 1999). More details to be announced soon. Full Moon Tours of the Cape Hatt [...] Seashore News |  Full Article

Superintendent David Hallac Invites Community to Discuss an Overvi ...

February 28, 2019 | Seashore News

  National Parks of Eastern North Carolina Superintendent David Hallac invites the public to visit with staff on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands, where he will review visitation patterns and park activities during 2018 at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, and Wright Brothers National Memorial. Meeting locations and dates are as follows: [...] Seashore News |  Full Article

Cape Hatteras National Seashore Announces 2019 Camping Season Dates

February 27, 2019 | Seashore News | By: Joy Crist

The 2019 Cape Hatteras National Seashore camping season at the Oregon Inlet, Cape Point, Frisco, and Ocracoke campgrounds will begin on Friday, April 12. Water and electric services are available at 23 camping sites at Oregon Inlet Campground. All campgrounds accommodate tents, trailers, and motorhomes up to 35 feet. Each campground also provides restrooms, potable [...] Seashore News |  Full Article

Shells from around the world to be auctioned at Shell Club meeting on Ocracoke

March 18, 2019 | Hatteras Features | From The: Ocracoke Observer

A special live auction of shells from around the world will highlight the North Carolina Shell Club meeting in the evenings of March 29 and 30 in the Ocracoke Community Center. Members and nonmembers are invited to attend each night. Several shell collections were donated to the club this year, said Dora Zimmerman, president, and 50 shells from one of those collections will be for sale to all those who attend the meeting Friday night at 7 p.m. and wish to bid. This collection, gathered by Rear Admiral Jerrold M. Michael, was willed to the North Carolina Shell Club by his wife. The donors wished for the shells to be sold to collectors, especially members of North Carolina Shell Club, said John Timmerman, a club member who will be the auctioneer. Timmerman said there are shells in the collection for all budgets. The club usually holds a live auction at its November meeting in Ocean Isle b [...] Hatteras Features |  Full Article

Night Sky: The Rosette Nebula and Star Cluster, and Other Highlig ...

February 28, 2019 | Hatteras Features | By: Gerry Lebing

  The first thing you might notice about the Rosette Nebula / star cluster is it has a lot of National Galactic Catalog (NGC) numbers associated with it. That’s due to different parts of this object being “discovered” by five different astronomers. The star cluster (visual magnitude +5) was discovered around 1690 by John Flamsteed, [...] Hatteras Features |  Full Article

Calling Rate Request Excessive, Insurance Chief Sets Hearing

February 22, 2019 | Real Estate | From The: Outer Banks Voice | 1

A hearing has been set for the end of summer on a proposed increase in homeowners insurance rates that could be more than 30 percent in coastal counties just a year after rates jumped by 15 percent in some areas. The request covers policies for residential property, tenants and condominiums. State Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey has called the increase excessive and says data does not support another hike after the one that went into effect last fall. Written comment on the proposal is open through Tuesday. The hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 4 in Raleigh. The North Carolina Rate Bureau submitted the request to the Department of Insurance on Dec. 20. The filing reflects an overall statewide average increase of 17.4 percent for homeowners, renters and condominium rates. However, NCRB has requested a rate increase of 30 percent in the homeowner rate in the beach areas of Currituck, [...] Real Estate |  Full Article

Sounding an Alarm on Homeowner’s Insurance

February 20, 2019 | Real Estate | By: Michelle Wagner | From The: Outer Banks Sentinel | 1

OBAR’s Willo Kelly rallies opposition to proposed 30% increase Homeowners on the barrier island portions of Dare, Currituck and Hyde Counties could face as much as a 30% hike in their insurance rates under a North Carolina Rate Bureau filing, Outer Banks Association of Realtors Chief Executive Officer Willo Kelly warned an audience of about [...] Real Estate |  Full Article

Avon Project Part of Worker Housing Push

February 13, 2019 | Real Estate | By: Neel Keller | From The: Outer Banks Sentinel | 1

But other projects may depend on new legislation The Dare County Commissioners took a step forward in their efforts to encourage new year-round housing developments with a Feb. 4 approval of a site plan and conditional use permit application for construction of a cluster home development in Avon. The application was submitted by OT Enterprises, [...] Real Estate |  Full Article

Critics Say N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission Emergency Meeting Could Set Troubling Precedent

March 20, 2019 | Fishing | By: Joy Crist

On Wednesday, March 13, the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission (NC MFC) held an Emergency Meeting in Kinston, N.C. to discuss directing the Division of Marine Fisheries Director, Steve Murphey, to issue a proclamation restricting the use of gill nets in the Neuse and Pamlico Rivers. The meeting stemmed from a similar request made by the MFC at their February 2019 business meeting, and after reviewing that initial request, Director Murphey chose not to issue the proclamation. However, a statute is in place that authorizes the commission to consider “directing” - or forcing the hand of - the fisheries director to issue a proclamation, regardless of refusal, which the commission approved at the emergency meeting in a 5-4 vote. The emergency meeting motion, (which mirrored the originally declined February motion), entails implementing a year-round closure upstream of the Bayview- [...] Fishing |  Full Article

Guest Column: Remembering John Hunter

March 13, 2019 | Guest Column

The Outer Banks lost a friend and icon this past weekend. John Hunter passed away Saturday at his home on Raymond Ave. in Kill Devil Hills. John has been on the Outer Banks since the 1970s, and was a real estate appraiser, sailor, aspiring writer and actor, a lover of music, food and good friends. He will be missed.

Community Foundation Accepting Scholarship Applications; $170,000 ...

March 13, 2019 | Community News

The Outer Banks Community Foundation is now accepting scholarship applications on its website: www.obcf.org. The application deadline is 11:59 pm, Sunday, March 31. The Community Foundation manages 50 different scholarship programs and expects to award about $170,000 to local students this year. Graduating high school seniors from Dare County, Currituck County, and Ocracoke are eligible to [...] Community News |  Full Article

Chamber Honors Outer Banks Women at International Women’s Day Lu ...

March 11, 2019 | News and Business Briefs

The Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce and their Title Sponsor, Towne Insurance, celebrated Women of the Outer Banks at a Luncheon event and Dessert Auction on Friday, March 8, at Basnight’s Lone Cedar Café. Coinciding with International Women’s Day, the honorees included Beth Midgett of Hatteras Island, and Vacation Rental Management Professional with Midgett Realty. [...] Community News |  Full Article

OBITUARIES

Charlotte Hood Alexander

March 21, 2019 | Obituaries

KILL DEVIL HILLS – Charlotte Hood Alexander, 77, passed away March 19, 2019 in Nags Head surrounded by her family and friends. She was the daughter of the late James Garland Hood and Charlotte Hood. Charlotte was born in Richmond, VA and attended St. Catherine’s High School and Mary Washington College where she earned a [...] Obituaries |  Full Article

Robert B. Bates

March 18, 2019 | Obituaries

FRISCO — Mr. Robert B. Bates passed away suddenly Friday, March 15, 2019 in Frisco, NC. He was 92 and preceded in death recently by his wife, Doris. Robert was born in in Oklahoma. He was a retired Naval officer who served his country bravely in World War II. He also completed law school and [...] Obituaries |  Full Article

Carol Robertson Bulluck

March 15, 2019 | Obituaries | By: Sarah Allman

KILL DEVIL HILLS — Carol Robertson Bulluck, 73, of Kill Devil Hills, NC died Tuesday, March 12, 2019, at The Outer Banks Hospital. Born in Tampa, FL on October 12, 1945, she was the daughter of the late Frances Kennon and Victor F. Robertson. A member of Outer Banks Baptist Church and Gideons International, Carol [...] Obituaries |  Full Article

Darrell Keith Gibbs

March 11, 2019 | Obituaries

WANCHESE — Capt. Darrell Keith Gibbs, a lifelong commercial fisherman, passed away at his home in Wanchese, NC on Saturday March 9, 2019. He was 60. In addition to his parents, Roy Gilbert and Matilda Ann Gibbs, he was preceded in death by his wife, Debi Dile Gibbs in 2014. Capt. Gibbs is survived by [...] Obituaries |  Full Article

Mitchell Dale Miles

March 11, 2019 | Obituaries

NAGS HEAD -- Mitchell Dale Miles, 59, of Nags Head, NC died Wednesday, February 27, 2019, at Sentara Albemarle Medical Center. Born in Norfolk, VA on May 12, 1959, he was the son of the late Wanda Lee Lance and Terry Edward Miles (Virginia Miles).

John Richard Hunter

March 11, 2019 | Obituaries

KILL DEVIL HILLS — John Richard Hunter, age 70, finished his race of life March 9, 2019 at his home in Kill Devil Hills, NC. John was bon September 23, 1948 to the late James A. and Elizabeth Stroud Hunter in Rock Hill, SC. John was a graduate of Rock Hill High School Class of [...] Obituaries |  Full Article