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.
Decades of water quality safeguards erased, advocates say
Groups that have for more than 40 years led the fight for clean water say the public may not be fully aware of the potentially devastating effects the latest federal rule could have for NC wetlands.
New federal rule puts 2.5 million acres of wetlands in peril
The Clean Water Act rule issued Tuesday redefines “waters of the United States” and leaves unprotected wetlands with no surface connection to navigable water bodies.
NC, VA organizations combine efforts to monitor king tides
As the East Coast readies for fall king tides — the highest high and lowest low tides of the year — two organizations that track the related flooding are encouraging volunteers to submit observations via smartphone apps.
NC’s coastal national parks boost economy by $1B in 2022
The five national parks on North Carolina’s coast saw a total direct visitor spending in 2022 of nearly $724, yielding an economic output of around $964 million.
