Children’s activities, guest speakers, a “tea party” on the Intracoastal Waterway, demonstrations by weavers and spinners, an encampment of reenactors, and Virginia Reel dance lessons are all on the schedule for the Historical Society of Topsail Island’s celebration of America’s 250th Anniversary.
Pender County
New Hanover decoration recycling program to begin Dec. 26
Live Christmas tree disposal services, many free of charge, are being offered in areas of the lower Cape Fear Region after Christmas day through to January.
Moores Creek invites food vendors to 250th commemoration
Moores Creek National Battlefield officials are inviting local food trucks to take part in its two-day 250th anniversary celebration being held in late February.
Colonial-themed Christmas event Dec. 13 at Moores Creek
Park staff, volunteers and historians will provide a variety of programs focused on celebrating Christmas in the 18th century.
Carnivore blooms
A Venus flytrap shows off its perhaps little-appreciated blooms, which are often overlooked, as compared with the other, better-known, insect-trapping attributes of this carnivorous plant that’s native only to a roughly 90-mile stretch of the North Carolina coast between Wilmington and Morehead City. Photo: Mark Hibbs
Cape Fear nonprofit writes how-to on growing tree canopies
The Wilmington-based Alliance for Cape Fear Trees has released a 45-page guide to help local governments grow greener, healthier canopies.
North Carolina’s national park sites in 2024 bring in $2.3B
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.
DEQ requires Chemours to expand PFAS well water testing
The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality announced Thursday that it is requiring Chemours expand sampling eligibility of PFAS contamination to about 14,000 additional residences in the lower Cape Fear region.
Coastal treatment plants win awards for water standards
A handful of water treatment plants on the coast were among the 63 awarded for surpassing federal and state drinking water standards in 2024.
EPA sets hearing on Asheboro’s proposed discharge permit
The Environmental Protection Agency is holding the public hearing on a proposed permit for the city’s wastewater treatment plant, which dumps high levels of 1,4-dioxane waste and is upstream of municipal drinking water customers in Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties.
Contract awarded for final stretch of Hampstead Bypass
The N.C. Department of Transportation announced earlier this week a $182 million contract has been awarded to S.T. Wooten Corp.
Coastal counties seek regional hazard mitigation plan input
The federally mandated Southeastern N.C. Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan, which identifies natural hazard risks and ways to mitigate and respond to those risks, is under review as part of a five-year update.
More than $240M awarded for water, wastewater upgrades
Drinking water and wastewater infrastructure improvement projects in a handful of coastal counties are among 48 projects selected to receive funding grants.
Pender landowner on mission to conserve hundreds of acres
Clint North has registered 1,988 acres in Pender County with North Carolina’s Natural Heritage Program, one of only three property owners in the state to register 1,000 acres or more with the state-managed conservation effort.
Coastal counties should expect unhealthy heat
State officials are advising residents to take precautions to avoid heat-related illnesses in the coastal counties where the heat is expected to reach unhealthy levels.
Five coastal counties now see severe drought conditions
Beaufort, Craven, New Hanover, Onslow and Pender counties are among eastern North Carolina counties experiencing severe drought conditions.
