Sharon Peele Kennedy, author of “What’s For Supper?” will be at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras on May 12th at 2:00 P.M. She will show museum guests how to cook crabs Outer Banks style. Sharon will chat with guests and demonstrate how to cook the crabs. This event is a great opportunity to learn an Outer Banks tradition.
Don't forget to pick up a copy of her book and have her sign it. For more information, visit www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.
The Corps have recently assumed power to create a temporary restrictive zone to protect the bridge if needed. The Coast Guard also said that the channel was too shallow for its search-and-rescue vessels. “We recognize the importance of this gateway for vessels traveling in and out of the Oregon Inlet and will continue to do everything possible to re-open the channel,” Donnie Potter, chief of the Physical Support Branch with the Corps’ Wilmington District, said in the statement.
A survey last week had shown the federal channel with a depth of 6 feet under the navigation span of the Bonner Bridge and less than 2 feet on the seaward side. The Currituck, which pumps dredge spoil into its hold then usually takes it past the ocean bar for dumping, will work on deepening the channel to 14 feet, the statement said. Shoaling can be rapid, especially if winds are out of the northeast. Both dredges were docked Monday night in the Port of Morehead City.
$1.2 million of funding was provided after U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C. asked earlier this year for the Corps to shift discretionary money provided in last year’s federal appropriations bill. The Corps estimates keeping the channel deep enough for commercial vessels would cost $7 million to $8 million a year. The Corps was allocated $2 million in fiscal year 2015 for all of Manteo (Shallowbag Bay), and Oregon Inlet.
Courtesy: OuterBanksVoice.com
Laura and Phil Wayland, the owners of Chip’s Wine & Beer Market and Outer Banks Olive Oil Co., are expanding with two new business ventures on the Outer Banks this spring. The success of the Kill Devil Hills location at Mile Post 6 Plaza has inspired Laura and Phil to expand. Chip’s celebrates its 10th anniversary this summer. Outer Banks Olive Oil Co. will be expanding into Duck with a new store in Scarborough Faire. Outer Banks Olive Oil Company’s newest location in Scarborough Faire will bring more than 40 varieties of olive oils and vinegars to Duck. To complement the flavored and infused oils and vinegars, Outer Banks Olive Oil Co. carries a wide variety of local items, gourmet foods and health & body products.
The Waylands are partnering with a long-time college friend, Jessica Tencza. The new partnership has completed the purchase of Bacchus Wine & Cheese in Monterey Plaza in Corolla. Both of the stores will be opening prior to Easter weekend. Bacchus Wine & Cheese will be opening this spring as Bacchus Wine & Beer Bistro for its 25th year serving the Outer Banks. Bacchus will continue to service its well known gift basket program, wine sales and sandwiches. Bacchus will be adding a selection of craft beer and a variety of culinary delights. Bacchus’s wine bar will include events, wine tastings and cheese plates.
For more information visit: www.bacchuswineandcheese.com and www.outerbanksolive.com
Courtesy: OuterBanksVoice.com
Begin the season with the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau at the Outer Banks Event Site in Nags Head as they greet Greensky Bluegrass and Roadkill Ghost Choir for a fantastic evening of music on the Roanoke Sound. Corresponding with National Tourism week, the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau is announcing a celebration concert to salute the Dare County Tourism Community. Soundside Live will be held at the Outer Banks Event Site on Thursday, May 7th from 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm. This event will feature nationally touring artists on the main stage along with delicious local food trucks.
For more information visit: http://www.soundsidelive.com/
The federal agency that keeps track of earthquakes would like to hear from coastal residents about two rumbles that shook houses Monday from the Outer Banks to Virginia Beach. There are occasional booms heard and felt along the Outer Banks occasionally, but the rumbles heard on Monday lasted as long 20 seconds. The first occurred at 4:24 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and the second at 6:24 p.m.
When the 5.8-magnitude earthquake in Virginia shook our region in August of 2011, it was reported within minutes by the USGS. The USGS website marks the incident in Nags Head and provides a link asking residents if they had felt it. Offshore training by the Navy and sonic booms from jets are usually the explanation for shakes and rumbles. A 2.8-magnitude earthquake was recorded in Louisa County Sunday near the center of the 2011 temblor, according to Inside Nova.
Courtesy: OuterBanksVoice.com
The new Dare MedFlight helicopter was featured at the Airbus Helicopters booth at the Helicopter Association International trade show in Orlando. Airbus provided Dare County with a $75,000 credit for allowing the helicopter to be displayed at the Orlando show. Dare County ordered the MedFlight helicopter back in 2012. MedFlight converted to an “FAA 135” operation the same year allowing EMS to charge or collect transport fees for service, which is estimated to generate $700,000 in each year to offset the cost of the new aircraft.
$822,000 per year of debt service began in 2014 and will go through 2026. A conservative estimate of trade-in value of current helicopter is $1 million which reduces the amount to be financed at about $7.2 million. Dare County is the first U.S. customer for Airbus Helicopter’s model EC145 T2 which cost $8.2 million dollars. Final adjustments are being made to the aircraft and it is anticipated to be in service in Dare County by August.
Courtesy: OuterBanksVoice.com
The Outer Banks Visitors Bureau has featured a webpage to encourage visitors traveling from the north to configure their vacation plans to avoid backups on U.S. 158, the Wright Memorial Bridge and N.C. 12 from Currituck County through Duck.
The “Get to the OBX Faster” webpage has smartphone-ready alternate routes. The webpage encourages visitors to consider starting their summer vacations on alternate days or vacation during off-peak months.
“This program on its own will obviously not fix the much bigger traffic situation, and particularly not in the short-term,” said OBVB executive director Lee Nettles.
“We do believe, though, that it is a step in the right direction and if we can move even a portion of the Saturday traffic off of the bridge, that’s a good thing,” Nettles said.
The bureau is encouraging their partners to share the page with customers. For more information visit: outerbanks.org/GetToTheOBXFaster
Courtesy: OuterBanksVoice.com
Rooster’s Southern Kitchen is coming to the Outer Banks in April. After twenty-five years operating a franchise restaurant, Sue and John Woolard were ready for a change. They desired to create a place where locals and visitors alike can gather to eat incredible food and enjoy one another. Growing up in a rural culture, Sue and John believe in the value of opening their doors to friends and neighbors, and that good food comes straight from the field to the table.
Sue and John have teamed up with executive Chef Ray Fiorello and General Manager Michelle Parrish to bring the Outer Banks delicious hand crafted Southern food. Rooster’s Southern Kitchen reflects the culture and energy of the South and the Outer Banks. The menu is full of great southern cuisine, and so are the drinks. Rooster’s Southern Kitchen will be open seven days a week serving lunch and dinner from 11 A.M. - 10 P.M, located at mile post 8 3/4 US 158 on the Bypass in Kill Devil Hills, NC.
For more information visit: roosterssouthernkitchen.com
Installation of a long-awaited cell tower in Southern Shores began Tuesday. The tower should put an end to spotty cell-phone reception for residents in parts of the town. The 130-foot-tall tower, which is designed to look like a large flagpole, is on a piece of Southern Shores Civic Association property at the intersection of Ocean Boulevard and N.C. 12 in an area known as the triangle.
American Tower Corp., which builds and operates cell structures, is leasing the parcel and subletting space to third-party wireless carriers. “Our plans also include the construction of a compound wall along with landscaping,” said Matt Peterson, the corporation’s vice president of communications. “The wall and landscaping portions of the project will start next week and take around three to four weeks to complete.”
Work at the site has been slow since it began this summer and had taken longer than expected, civic association members have said. The group entered into a lease agreement with AT&T in 2013 to erect the tower. The contractor barely squeaked by an August deadline that had to be met under a conditional-use permit requiring work to commence at the site.
While there had been some controversy over the tower in the past, many residents live in dead areas where calls don’t come in or out and they get virtually no reception. The worst areas were reportedly between the 50 block of Ocean Boulevard extending to Seacrest Village, along with a spot as you turn on Dogwood Trail and head east again.
State wildlife regulators are calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to end the reintroduction of the red wolf in the region and to remove all wolves that were released on private lands in Dare, Hyde, Tyrrell, Washington and Beaufort counties.
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission on Thursday adopted two resolutions that cited interbreeding with coyotes, encroachment onto private lands and a failure to meet project goals as reasons to end the program in North Carolina.
The Wildlife Commission also said that 64 releases of red wolves by the Fish and Wildlife Service were intended to be done on federal land but were taken place on private land that was unauthorized. The commission said the wolves and their pups should be recaptured.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a 171-page, peer-reviewed evaluation in November 2014 to address deficiencies and determine the program’s future in eastern North Carolina, with a broader announcement on an overall decision expected in early 2015.
Red wolves were declared an endangered species in 1967 and then extinct in the wild in 1980. Some 200 red wolves are held in captive breeding facilities across the United States. One is in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern North Carolina just west of the Outer Banks.
Courtesy: OuterBanksVoice.com