With the newly redrawn voting maps, Hyde County will be in three new voting districts next year unless a court orders them to be redrawn. Throughout the country, every state is redrawing political maps based on new data from the 2020 census. North Carolina ratified new districts on Nov. 4. The new districts for Hyde […]
Local News | Full Article
N.C. Shell Club donates to the OVFD
November 15, 2021 | Local News | By: Peter Vankevich | From The: Ocracoke Observer
Although the North Carolina Shell Club has not held its annual spring meeting on Ocracoke for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have not forgotten the island. From a special live auction at their September meeting in Cedar Point, the club raised $1,400 for Ocracoke and donated it to the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire […]
Local News | Full Article
Let the rebuilding begin; Ocracoke School moves forward from Hurricane Dorian
October 30, 2021 | Local News | By: Peter Vankevich | From The: Ocracoke Observer
While much of Ocracoke has returned to a new “normal” in these challenging times, Ocracoke School still has a way to go. With a great deal of initial reluctance, Ocracoke School eventually joined about 35 other buildings in Ocracoke village that were torn down due to historic flooding caused by Hurricane Dorian on Sept. 6, […]
Local News | Full Article
UPDATED: Ocracoke tram service to include trial-run stop at island’s famous lighthouse
June 21, 2021 | Local News | By: Peter Vankevich | From The: Ocracoke Observer
Update: Tram service to the lighthouse will begin as soon as the National Park Service installs signage, the Observer learned today (Monday, June 21). The original version of this story said tram service to the lighthouse would begin Monday, as was announced in a public meeting June 17. Sometime after Monday, when passenger ferry service is scheduled […]
Local News | Full Article
Snowy Owl returns to Ocracoke
January 15, 2021 | Island Features | By: Peter Vankevich | From The: Ocracoke Observer
Note: If you search for this owl, keep a distance so as not to spook it causing it to fly away. These photos were taken with a long lens. Ocracoke went on alert to the possibility that a Snowy Owl would return here when one was seen Dec. 29 on Pea Island. According to OBX Today, […]
Island Features | Full Article
Ocracoke and Portsmouth Christmas Bird Counts take place despite pandemic
January 11, 2021 | Island Features | By: Peter Vankevich | From The: Ocracoke Observer
Conducting outdoor bird censuses at the end of December can be a challenge, normally due to the specter of horrible weather. The Portsmouth and Ocracoke island Christmas Bird Counts (CBC) that took place on their end-of-the year dates, Dec. 30 and 31 got done, though Ocracoke’s weather was not ideal. The counts, like hundreds of […]
Island Features | Full Article
Was ‘The Lost Colony’ really lost or just decamped to Hatteras Island?
December 28, 2020 | Island Features | By: Peter Vankevich | From The: Ocracoke Observer
Scott Dawson is on a mission for the Lost Colony truth. The native of Hatteras Island, or as he might prefer, Croatoan, has published a book that, among other things, debunks, he says, the myth of the Lost Colony. The fate of the Lost Colony on Roanoke Island, Dare County, has been a matter of speculation, […]
Island Features | Full Article
‘Ocracoke’ the horror movie? Stand by
November 13, 2020 | Local News | By: Peter Vankevich | From The: Ocracoke Observer
Ocracoke over the years has been well-documented in video productions from its famous “hoi-toide” brogue to lots of footage featuring the much-awarded beach, ghosts, its light house and the devastation wrought by hurricanes over the years. What’s been missing is a full-length filmed-on-location horror movie. That has changed as a camera crew and cast showed […]
Local News | Full Article
The campaign end approaches: Ocracoke concludes early/one stop voting
October 28, 2020 | Local News | By: Peter Vankevich | From The: Ocracoke Observer
The two-day early voting period on Ocracoke before the General Election ended Friday with a total of 356 voters, Viola Williams, Hyde County elections director said today. Voting took place last Thursday and Friday (Oct. 22 and 23) in the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department, the same place for the voting in the General Election on […]
Local News | Full Article
N.C. House Speaker Moore visits Ocracoke
August 17, 2020 | Local News | By: Peter Vankevich | From The: Ocracoke Observer
With no fanfare, NC General Assembly House Speaker Tim Moore visited Ocracoke on Wednesday. When asked how he was doing, after having lunch at Howard’s Pub, he replied, “I’m on Ocracoke, it couldn’t be any better.” Coming down Hatteras Island, Moore (R-Cleveland) boarded the Ocracoke Express passenger ferry along with Jed Dixon, deputy director of […]
Local News | Full Article