Individuals and businesses in Dare County are required by North Carolina law to list their personal property for taxation during the month of January each year. This includes all personal property and business personal property owned as of January 1, 2025. Property tax listing forms will be mailed to all taxpayers who previously owned and [...] Local News |  Full Article

The William B. Umstead Bridge, locally known as the Old Manns Harbor Bridge, will remain closed through February, as work continues on a $33 million bridge preservation project. Critical work remains before the 70-year-old bridge can safely be reopened to traffic: workers must complete the overlay on the bridge deck and install new, elastomeric concrete [...] Local News |  Full Article

From SamWalkerOBXNews.com UPDATED, Wednesday 1 p.m.: A project to place massive sandbags alongside N.C. 12 at the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center will begin around the middle of January. A North Carolina Department of Transportation request to the state Coastal Resources Commission for the sandbags was approved Monday at a special meeting. NCDOT spokesperson [...] Local News |  Full Article

The N.C. Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division will be adopting a temporary ‘phone only’ reservation system on Wednesday, as it transitions to a new enhanced online reservation system that is expected to be in place by early February. During the transition period, all reservations for the Cedar Island-Ocracoke and Swan Quarter-Ocracoke ferry routes will be [...] Local News |  Full Article

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management (DCM) has been selected as a host for the 2025-2027 class of NOAA Coastal Management Fellows. The project goal is to enhance the accessibility of GIS data produced by North Carolina’s communities through the Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP), ensuring the data is available to residents [...] Local News |  Full Article

A federal grant awarded Monday will enable state transportation officials to create a program that better guides the agency’s use of drones when it responds to natural disasters like Hurricanes Helene, Dorian, and Florence. The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the award of a $1.1 million grant to the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation. NCDOT was one [...] Local News |  Full Article

From SamWalkerOBXNews.com The license plate agency located in Manteo will close at the end of the year, likely leaving Dare County without a place to purchase and renew plates in person for at least several months. And that also leaves in limbo access to the exclusive, standard issues plates that start with “OBX” and are [...] Local News |  Full Article

All Dare County offices and facilities will be closed on Wednesday, January 1, 2025 in observance of New Year’s Day. These closures include the Dare County C&D Landfill in Manns Harbor, the Buxton Transfer Station and the Manteo Recycle Yard, which will be closed on Wednesday, January 1, 2025 and will reopen and operate with regularly scheduled [...] Local News |  Full Article

From CoastalReview.org The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality announced Monday that it had launched four new online applications for regulatory permits. The department said the additions were part of a continuing effort to update and improve the permitting process. “Through AccessDEQ, we continue to modernize and streamline applications to provide more user-friendly experiences for [...] Local News |  Full Article

From SamWalkerOBXNews.com UPDATED, Monday 3:15 p.m.: The North Carolina Department of Transportation request to the state Coastal Resources Commission has been approved to place sandbags to protect N.C. Highway 12 at the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. The commission held a special meeting by teleconference on Monday morning, as NCDOT is seeking to construct [...] Local News |  Full Article

On Monday, December 16, Dare County announced that Fitch Ratings, a leading global credit rating agency, had upgraded the county’s Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to AA+ from AA and its Limited Obligation Bonds (LOBs) to AA from AA-. The outlook for both ratings remains stable. This upgrade reflects Dare County’s strong financial management practices and [...] Local News |  Full Article

From SamWalkerOBXNews.com The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has submitted a request to the state Coastal Resources Commission to place sandbags to protect N.C. Highway 12 at the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. The commission has scheduled a special meeting by teleconference on Monday at 10 a.m. to vote on the request, [...] Local News |  Full Article

The Coast Guard rescued three mariners Thursday morning from a sailing vessel beset by weather 154 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras. At 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Coast Guard Sector Charleston notified watchstanders at the Fifth Coast Guard District Command Center that the 59-foot sailing vessel TIME-AUT was caught in heavy weather and at risk of [...] Local News |  Full Article

From CoastalReview.org The North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission will hold a special meeting at 10 a.m. Monday by web conference to hear a variance request from the N.C. Department of Transportation. According to the agenda posted at the commission’s website, the request involves sandbags at Pea Island in Dare County. The meeting materials were not [...] Local News |  Full Article

Dare County has been chosen to receive $14,929 of Federal Emergency Food and Shelter funds awarded through the Department of Homeland Security. Under the terms of the grant from the national board, any non-profit, faith-based or local government agency that provides food and shelter services may apply for funds. Applying agencies must have an accounting [...] Local News |  Full Article