Shooting The Breeze

The other day, a colleague was asking me about the projected opening date of the new Jug Handle Bridge, and casually asked how long we had been covering the “New Bridges” story. I thought about it for a minute, and the answer surprised us both – about 31 years. And when you think about it, [...] Editor's Blog |  Full Article

“What was the worst hurricane in your lifetime?” This is one of the most interesting questions to pose to any Outer Banks local resident, because it will generally clue you in on three things: 1) What section of the Outer Banks they call home 2) How long they have lived on the Outer Banks and [...] Editor's Blog |  Full Article

The Outer Banks is breaking records when it comes to visitation, and this is a trend that has been going strong for months. The first six months of 2021 saw the highest number of visitors to Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands since data started being collected decades ago, and this popularity shows no sign of slowing [...] Editor's Blog |  Full Article

In mid-May, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore (CHNS) announced that they had signed the Record of Decision for the Sediment Management Framework, a project that had been in the works for over a year. It’s a story that received limited attention, (understandable, since the diminishing Coronavirus pandemic and the return of summer events have been [...] Editor's Blog |  Full Article

It seems like every few years, the islands are presented with a big initiative or change that naturally inspires debate, simply because it’s an endeavor that is potentially landscape-altering, and has never been introduced before. Do a search in our IFP archives, and you’ll find tons of stories that fit this description. Notable examples include [...] Editor's Blog |  Full Article

Professional beachcomber and columnist, Kristin Hissong, was heading back to her car after a long patrol on one of her favorite Hatteras Island beaches for shelling. It was a cold and windy day, and she was already a little irked by the big 7:00 a.m. crowd that had also flocked to the same beach in [...] Editor's Blog |  Full Article

The first few days of 2021 have certainly felt like a chaotic continuation of 2020, with record-breaking COVID-19 numbers, political turmoil, and even a small coastal storm to boot, but there is ample reason to believe that there are bright spots in the future. From a vaccine that is already being administered on a county [...] Editor's Blog |  Full Article

Oh, 2020. We were so excited to see you arrive, and we’ll be so dang glad to see you leave. To say that 2020 was an unusual year is a massive understatement. Looking back at our past “Year in Review” round-up of notable stories, the bulk of our previous lists were topped by hurricanes, new [...] Editor's Blog |  Full Article

2020 is an unprecedented year, where the concept of time has been altered. More than once I have heard the question “What day is it again?” (or have asked that question myself), as months ticked by in relative isolation, and traditional events that indicated the season – like the 4th of July fireworks show, or [...] Editor's Blog |  Full Article