The Coastal Resources Commission on Wednesday adopted 16 emergency rules to temporarily replace the most critical of the 30 that were stripped from the books after the Rules Review Commission objected to them in October.
News & Features
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.
Federation founder Miller to step back, Davis new director
North Carolina Coastal Federation Executive Director Todd Miller announced Monday that he is stepping down and that Dr. Braxton Davis, director of the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management, will step into the role in February.
Progress steady toward opening Ocracoke Island pharmacy
Christie Woolard is set to open and manage the island’s first — and what could be North Carolina’s most remote — pharmacy.
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.
Olsons scrap plans to buy, develop Topsail Beach property
Accusing town officials of “one-sided behavior,” software CEO Todd Olson and his wife Laura have withdrawn their application seeking to conditionally rezone the undeveloped parcel known as The Point.
State’s Native Americans at higher risk of preterm births
Native Americans in North Carolina face a disproportionately higher risk for preterm birth because of exposure to mixtures of toxic metals in their private drinking water wells, according to a recent study.
Feral hogs a largely unseen but costly problem in state
North Carolina was recently ranked as having the seventh-worst feral swine problem in the country, but state officials say there is no solid estimate of how many of the intelligent, free-roaming, disease-carrying hogs are here.
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.
Interactive online tour shows Green Swamp’s need for fire
Emma Gwyn, an intern with The Nature Conservancy in Wilmington has created an interactive online StoryMap that illustrates how a wildfire earlier this year has already benefited the Green Swamp Nature Preserve.
Demolition of two houses begins on Hatteras Island beach
National Park Service officials were on hand Wednesday to oversee commencement of a contractor’s work to raze two houses that erosion had long left precariously perched on the public beach.
State on ‘aggressive’ timeline to meet PFAS water standards
North Carolina environmental regulators are expediting a plan to meet proposed federal limits on PFAS in drinking water and reduce related costs to consumers by addressing upstream discharges.
Outer Banks tourism rebounded after COVID, now slowing
Presentations during the recent Outer Banks Visitors Bureau tourism summit featured an economy outperforming some state and national trends but also showing signs of cooling.
Topsail Beach officials demand conservation guarantee
Some town commissioners suggested Tuesday that Todd and Laura Olson’s rezoning request would not stand a chance if the couple did not agree in writing to place about 80% of the land under permanent conservation.
Navy base’s wretched reminders not just petroleum in soils
Recently exposed petroleum contamination at the old site of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, where the Navy and later the Coast Guard formerly operated, is but one nasty aspect of the abandoned installations’ environmental legacy.
‘Catastrophic crisis’: Imported shrimp flood US market
Shrimp imports are overwhelming domestic shrimp producers and driving prices for locally sourced shrimp to record lows, prompting demands that the federal government declare a fishery resource disaster.
