This year’s legislative short session is expected to be about as short as it can get, and passing an adjusted state budget is going to be even shorter in what’s being called an unprecedented move. The biggest local provision authorizes $15 million from the shallow draft inlet dredging fund to create a partnership between the […]
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Night Sky: BIG Planets and Other Night Sky Highlights for June 2018
Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system. Its diameter is about 87 thousand miles–that’s about 11 times larger than Earth’s! Jupiter is also about five times further from the sun than the Earth. The composition of Jupiter is about 90% hydrogen, 9% helium and it has small amounts of other elements. Its size […]
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Hatteras Island Rescue Squad Launches Rip Current Education Program for the Summer
The Hatteras Island Rescue Squad is bringing back their Rip Current Safety and Beach Hazards program for the summer of 2018, after a successful initial launch of the initiative in 2017. The weekly program is an interactive class that provides information on rip current safety – both before and after a person may be caught […]
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Ocrafolk Festival Breezes into Ocracoke Village June 1-3 By JOY CRIST
One of the most anticipated weekends of the summer is just around the corner for music fans on Ocracoke Island, as the Ocrafolk Music and Storytelling Festival kicks off on Friday, June 3, with three days of music, storytelling, and arts to discover. The annual festival, which is celebrating its 19th year in 2018, is […]
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Islanders Show Appreciation for Veterans through Cape Hatteras Wounded Warrior Vacation Program
By James Lea On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, the aroma of good Carolina barbecue drifted from Indian Town along Highway 12, drawing Hatteras Islanders together to remember with respect the men and women of the military who have stood tall to defend America’s freedom and values. Many of them have fallen. Many others, […]
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Massachusetts Man Dies in the Ocean Near Ramp 70 on Ocracoke Island
On Wednesday afternoon, a 55-year-old man died while swimming in the ocean near Ramp 70 on Ocracoke Island. The man was visiting from North Brookfield, Massachusetts, and was found floating three feet from the shore near Ramp 70 on Ocracoke Island without a flotation device. Bystanders discovered the man after answering a family member’s call […]
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Lighthouse is Beaming Again After Quick Repair
The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is back to beaming again after a quick Tuesday repair by the U.S. Coast Guard. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse went unintentionally dark at some point over Memorial Day weekend, but Boone Vandzura, the National Seashore’s Chief Ranger for the Cape Hatteras Group, reports that it was shining again in time for […]
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Ocracoke Express Ferry Expected This Fall
Shortages of qualified marine welders and American-made aluminum has delayed initial plans for a mid-summer launch of the Ocracoke Express, the state’s first high-speed passenger ferry. But that doesn’t mean that Outer Bankers won’t possibly be taking a few spins on the new vessel and tram service this year. “I just think it will give […]
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Discovering North Carolina’s Most Remote – a Trip to the Frying Pan Tower
By Jennie Koontz On May 26, 2018 I took the approximate 350 mile journey from Hatteras Island to the Frying Pan Shoals Tower. I left my house and drove 5.5 hours to Southport, N.C. When I arrived at High Tide Helicopters, I was a bit nervous and questioning my own sanity as I was about […]
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Lighthouse Goes Dark Over Memorial Day Weekend By JOY CRIST
The skies on Hatteras Island became a little darker over Memorial Day weekend, as the light within the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse stopped working. Reports started to trickle in on Sunday that the familiar and rotating beacon was missing, and efforts are underway to assess the problem. Though the lighthouse itself is managed by the National […]
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