Around 4.7 million visitors spent $732.2 million in the communities surrounding the North Carolina coast’s five National Park Service sites, a recent report finds.
Spotlight
Attorneys allege Chemours hid emission data from public
The company “improperly withheld vital emission data from the public” in its Aug. 14 application to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality, according to a letter to regulators from Southern Environmental Law Center attorneys.
Another oceanfront house on Hatteras Island collapses
The 10th unoccupied oceanfront house to collapse in Buxton fell Saturday evening, bringing the total to 11 for the Outer Banks since Sept. 16.
New Bern sailor killed at Pearl Harbor identified decades later
Navy Fireman 1st Class Edward Bowden, who was aboard the USS California on that infamous morning in December 1941 and interred as an unknown for more than 80 years, was laid to rest last week at Arlington, bringing closure for his surviving family.
Coastal storm brings ocean overwash, erosion to NC beaches
The nor’easter that swept up the East Coast last weekend continues to cause headaches along areas of the Outer Banks, where road crews continue to work to reopen portions of N.C. 12.
Hurricanes are getting increasingly worse: Climatologist
As tropical storms become wetter and more intense, the perception that hurricanes are just a coastal issue has changed in the last century, Assistant State Climatologist Corey Davis says.
Autumn’s traditional scents, aromas are soul-deep comforts
Humans’ sense of smell is powerful, and scent-triggered memories, such as the aromas of fall foods, can take us back to our childhoods or to any special memories with just one whiff.
Oct. 11 marks 129th anniversary of ES Newman rescue
On Oct. 11, 1896, during hurricane conditions and in the darkness of the night, Keeper Richard Etheridge and the all-Black surfmen crew he commanded at the Pea Island Life-Saving Station — Benjamin Bowser, Dorman Pugh, Theodore Meekins, Lewis Wescott, Stanley Wise and William Irving — saved all onboard the shipwrecked schooner.
Dare’s contractor to begin debris pickup this week in Buxton
Dare County’s debris removal contractor will begin collecting debris from the right-of-way at Old Lighthouse Road Wednesday, ahead of the bad weather forecast for this weekend.
Blue crab populations decline after juvenile stage: Study
The blue crab population in the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System is disappearing sometime between when juveniles leave their nursery habitats and before reaching sexual maturity, a recent study finds.
‘Messy situation’: Buxton beach closed after 8th house falls
The first home fell two weeks ago, but the spate of collapses this week has turned this Cape Hatteras National Seashore beach and the crashing surf into a hazardous, dynamic debris field.
Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Festival to honor tradition
Decoy carving and duck hunting, crabbing, fishing and harvesting shellfish — the skills and trades islanders have passed down through the generations — are set to be celebrated Oct. 11.
Steel manufacturer to announce big Hertford County project
Currituck County Republican Sen. Bobby Hanig says the forthcoming announcement of a new company’s nearly $1 billion investment in Hertford County will be “transformational” for the area.
Vast majority of litter removed from streams is plastic: Study
A three-year study recently published in the journal Community Science finds that about 96% of litter North Carolina waterkeeper organizations and their volunteers removed from trash traps were plastics.
Biologists heartened by red wolf program’s recent successes
While still far from recovered, more endangered eastern red wolves in northeastern North Carolina are breeding, more pups are surviving, coyote hybridization has been cut, and there are fewer mortalities from vehicle strikes and gunshots.
Residents at leading edge of climate crisis see no way to leave
People in southern Louisiana have seen their land disappear at an alarming rate, but for them, like many who live in low-lying areas along the North Carolina coast, “home is more than the building you live in,” and retreat isn’t an option.

















