State Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey and insurance industry officials joined an all-day community roundtable on Harkers Island Wednesday, encouraging coastal residents to be their own advocates.
Agencies acknowledge confusion fisheries conflict creates
Officials agree that the public is caught in the middle of inconsistent state fisheries regulations enacted by the state Wildlife Resources Commission and Marine Fisheries Commission for inland and coastal waters, respectively.
Live Christmas trees can go back to nature after holidays
Now that the holidays are wrapping up, natural Christmas trees can find a new purpose, from restoring dunes to becoming mulch.
State Parks to ring in new year with First Day Hikes for all
More than 50 ranger-led First Day Hikes of varying degrees of length and difficultly are planned for New Year’s Day across the state, including here on the coast.
Hundreds celebrate opening of bridge to Harkers Island
More than 300 crowded onto the new Harkers Island bridge Tuesday to join in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the high-rise structure — and try it on foot.
Currituck again ranks as state’s least-distressed county
The Department of Commerce has ranked Beaufort, Gates and Pasquotank among the 40 most economically distressed counties in the state, but various county officials take issue with the criteria.
Agencies’ joint rules conflict set ‘stage for a showdown’
The conflict between the Marine Fisheries Commission and Wildlife Resources Commission appears to have begun when the two state agencies decided to work together in 2018 on delineating jointly managed waters.
Morehead City’s Sugarloaf Island restoration project begins
With $6.6 million in state funds, restoration recently began on rapidly eroding Sugarloaf Island, a storm barrier that has long protected the Morehead City waterfront.
Conflicting mullet, flounder seasons signal bigger problems
Seasons for popular fish in coastal and inland waters, which are subject to separate rules, didn’t coincide this year for the first time in years, laying bare a conflict between agencies that share regulatory authority over joint waters.
James City first site of new African American Heritage Tour
The tour, still under development to highlight the region’s African American heritage, is a partnership of the nonprofit Eastern Carolina Foundation for Equity and Equality and the National Park Service.
Pace of cyclone strengthening has doubled since 1971
A study from Rowan University in New Jersey has drawn a connection between the number of rapidly strengthening tropical Atlantic hurricanes in recent years and documented increases in ocean temperatures.
Community Conversation: Plans for ‘next Florence’ emerge
Special Report: Hurricane Florence five years ago forced new thinking about adaptation and resiliency, especially in North Carolina’s most vulnerable coastal areas.
Florence’s scars heal slowly as change becomes more visible
Special report: Five years after Hurricane Florence battered and drenched Down East Carteret County, much has changed, but solutions are elusive.
Changes from Hurricane Florence Down East still visible
New series: The Down East Resilience Network brought together state agency representatives, scientists, residents and advocates for a two-day community conversation on changes Down East since the 2018 Category 1 storm and how to prepare for the next.
Plans in motion to rid public lands of single-use plastics
The Department of Interior — including national parks — must phase out single-use plastic products within the decade, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced Thursday, but advocates remain worried.
Study shows extreme disasters accelerate aging in primates
Rhesus macaque monkeys on an isolated island in Puerto Rico exposed to the 2017 Hurricane Maria showed molecular aging of around two years as a result, roughly equivalent to seven or eight human years.
