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 22. The Community Foundation manages 55 different scholarship programs and expects to award about $173,000 to local students this year. Graduating high school seniors from Dare County, Currituck County, and Ocracoke are eligible [...] Community News Brief |  Full Article

State transportation officials are inviting people to an informational meeting March 5 on the Rodanthe “Jug Handle” Bridge project, which is under construction on the Outer Banks. The Rodanthe Bridge is a long-term transportation solution to severe storms that cause breaches on N.C. 12. The N.C. Department of Transportation is raising N.C. 12 onto a 2.4-mile bridge that extends [...] Local News |  Full Article

In 2018, U.S. fishermen landed 9.4 billion pounds of fish valued at $5.6 billion at ports around the nation—consistently high figures on par with recent years, which bring economic benefits up and down the seafood supply chain, according to an annual report released today by NOAA Fisheries. According to the Fisheries of the United States [...] Fishing |  Full Article

The Outer Banks Community Foundation’s membership honored two Champions, elected five board members, and celebrated $1.4 million in grants and scholarships in 2019 at the organization’s Annual Meeting on February 20. The Community Foundation also announced a major new grants initiative at its meeting, the 2020 Vision Grants, which will be launched later in the [...] Community News Brief |  Full Article

A number of ferry routes through Eastern N.C. have been suspended as of Friday morning due to a coastal storm that is bringing high winds and rough seas to the Outer Banks. The Ocracoke-Cedar Island, Ocracoke-Swan Quarter, and Hatteras-Ocracoke routes are all temporarily offline, per a Friday morning update from the North Carolina Ferry System. [...] Local News |  Full Article

The Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality has directed the Division of Marine Fisheries to conduct a thorough review of the regulations governing the use of small mesh gill nets in North Carolina fisheries. After decades of actions by numerous Marine Fisheries Commissions (MFC), the department, the division and federal agencies, the regulations have [...] Fishing |  Full Article

The 5th annual Starry Nights returned to our wintery island on Saturday, February 15, at the Hatteras Village Community Building. This year, organizers were seeking volunteers of all ages to participate in astronaut training for the 2020 theme, “Mars Explorer Mission.” The event was sponsored by the Hatteras Village Civic Association, and spearheaded by Alana [...] Island Features |  Full Article

Kristin Hissong is a North Carolina native and UNC Charlotte graduate, an Outer Banks resident of 15 years, and is a dedicated “professional beachcomber.” She has spent more 20,000 hours walking on and shorelines around the Eastern Seaboard, and has collected thousands upon thousands of items from the Atlantic Ocean. For the past five years, [...] Island Features |  Full Article

The replacement of overhead power lines with a submarine cable at the southern end of Hatteras Island along Pole Road, (or ORV Ramp 55), is continuing to make progress, per a recent online update from the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The project, which is managed by Tideland Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) via a Special Use [...] Seashore News |  Full Article

The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) will hold their first quarterly meeting of 2020 on February 19-21 at the New Bern Riverfront Convention Center, and there are several big amendments on the agenda that are slated to be voted on and addressed. On Thursday, February 20, the meeting agenda calls for a vote on [...] Fishing |  Full Article

Meet the Outer Banks SPCA pet of the week, Gracie, courtesy of their latest video produced by Dare County’s CURRENT TV. For more information on Gracie, and the many other Outer Banks pets currently up for adoption, visit the Outer Banks SPCA website at https://www.obxspca.org/, or their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/obxspca/  

The new Bonner Bridge replacement recently received several 2020 Design Awards from the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute’s annual contest. Determined by a jury of architects, engineers, and precast concrete producers, judges review construction projects from all corners of North America with an eye on creative and innovative uses of precast concrete. For 2020, the Bonner Bridge [...] Local News |  Full Article