A longtime policy of preferring septic systems over centralized sewage treatment is getting a second look in Dare County.
As part of an update to the land use plan required by the state, the county is considering revisions that would view centralized wastewater treatment as an acceptable alternative to individual septic systems.
While the plan is only [...]

With a Dominion North Carolina Power rate increase of about 9 percent under consideration by the state, weatherization can pay big dividends.

Rental owners could generate a lot of goodwill and a lot less trash by signing on to a dirt cheap recycling program. Management companies can make it happen.
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With the shorebird nesting season ending, the National Park Service has re-opened access to Oregon Inlet by off road vehicle and foot. Meanwhile, turtle nesting on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore continues at a record pace.
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Buying and warehousing paper bags does not appear to be a business the county’s tourism authority is interested in pursuing to mitigate the impact of the plastic bag ban.
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Duke Energy Carolinas will no longer pursue a plan to place up to three demonstration wind turbines in the Pamlico Sound. Instead, the focus will shift to large-scale offshore wind development on the oceanside of the North Carolina coast.
full story in the Island Free Press »

A federal judge has denied a motion by the Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance to block the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s latest attempt to declare parts of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore critical habitat for wintering piping plovers.
full story in the Island Free Press »

Purple martins are still being injured and killed on the old Manns Harbor bridge, but one victim recently was nursed back to health and rejoined his flying community in time for the journey to Brazil later this summer.
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Ike McRee, the county attorney for Currituck, has been responding to media inquiries since the potential developers of 13 oceanfront acres now owned by the Audubon Society first applied for permits. The county’s role in this endeavor begins sometime before 2004, when Currituck converted its zoning maps from paper to a digital database.
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Mark Buckler is a quiet, devoted wildlife advocate who serves as director of the Audubon’s Pine Island sanctuary. He is not the kind of person who would relish being at the center of a controversy.
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The Pine Island Property Owners Association is adamantly opposed to the sale of 13 acres of Audubon Society land and the developer’s plan to build a hotel, condominiums and retail space adjacent to their residential subdivision.
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Sixteen seconds. At 45 mph, that is how long it takes to drive 1,000 feet. This is the oceanfront length of 13 acres of sand and scrub in Corolla that has touched off a hot debate and now, legal action.
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