Incumbent Walter Jones of Greenville, Pitt County, handily won the Republican contest in a special primary June 7 for his Congressional District 3 seat, which includes Ocracoke.
District-wide, Jones captured nearly 65 percent of the vote against Republican challengers, Phil Law (20 percent) and Taylor Griffin (15 percent).
Walter Jones
Jones, who has been in Congress since 1995, will vie in the general election Nov. 8 with Democratic challenger Ernest T. Reeves, also of Greenville, who beat David Allan Hurst. Reeves received 55 percent of the vote and Hurst garnered 45 percent.
District 3 includes Currituck, Canderr, Tyrell, Dare, Hyde, Beaufort, Pitt, Pamlico, Craven, Jones, Lenoir, Carteret, Onslow, Wayne and Duplin counties.
Ernest Reeves
In February, the General Assembly enacted S.L. 2016-01 and S.L. 2016-02, which redrew districts for the U.S. House of Representatives and established a primary for U.S. House of Representatives on June 7. Those district lines were under review by a federal court and were not final at the time of the March 15 primary, which necessitated another primary.
For the N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice position, incumbent Robert H. (Bob) Edmunds will face off against Michael R. (Mike) Morgan in the November election.
Those on Ocracoke who voted in this specially scheduled primary braved high winds and rain to make it to the voting site in the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department building.
Only 75 of the 788 registered voters on the island turned out to vote, which included the early voting day on June 2.
Of those 75 island voters, Morgan received 42 votes; Sabra Jean Faires, 15; Edmunds, 10 and Daniel Robertson, 5.
Entire District 3 results:
Republican:
Walter B. Jones 15,722; 64.83 percent Phil Law 4,929; 20.33 percent Taylor Griffin 3,599; 14.84 percent
Democrat:
Ernest T. Reeves 6,402; 54.60 percent David Allan Hurst 5,323; 45.40 percent
Robert H. (Bob) Edmunds 234,142; 48.06 percent Michael R. (Mike) Morgan 167,222; 34.33 percent Sabra Jean Faires 58,588; 12.03 percent Daniel Robertson 27,220; 5.59 percent
Tabitha Brooks and Kelly Dunseath write down every sales transaction Sunday during a six-hour internet outage on Ocracoke.
By Irene Nolan, Island Free Press editor
with additional reporting by Connie Leinbach
A six-hour communication outage made life interesting, if not difficult, for Hatteras and Ocracoke island residents and visitors Sunday.
Shortly after 10 a.m., all forms of communications stopped — internet, all cell phone service, cable television, and some land lines.
Many of the islands’ land lines continued working, but both locals and visitors who rely on cell phones or the internet were out of luck. There was no email, texting, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram — all the means of communication upon which we have come to rely.
Communications returned about 4 p.m., though the reason for the outage is still not totally clear.
“(I) Don’t know what happened to cause the failure but it appears to have been a CenturyLink cable on the Bonner Bridge,” Dare County emergency manager Drew Pearson said in an e-mail when internet service returned.
“I have no indication it was the result of any construction activities,” he added.
Dare County Sheriff Doug Doughtie said that “a fastener holding the fiber optic cable to the bridge broke and when it broke, it compromised the cable.”
Doughtie said he sent extra deputy sheriffs to Hatteras during the outage.
Dare and Hyde county’s emergency radio system remained working, though people without a landline were unable to call 911. Many of Hatteras and Ocracoke first responders kept in touch via ham radio.
The outage made life difficult for some businesses that were open today and have Internet-based cash registers.
At the Ocracoke Campground and Gas Station, while the credit card machine are telephone line-based and worked, clerks Tabitha Brooks and Kelly Dunseath had to write down all of the sales transactions.
At about 2 p.m., they had four and a half full legal pad pages and 4 steno notebooks of transactions that they would have to enter into the registers when the internet was back on.
Leslie Lanier, owner of Books To Be Red, reported no problems since her register and credit card machine are telephone-line based.
The Ocracoke Variety Store has new internet-based credit card machines, but simply pulled out their old machines when the Net went down, said Trudy Austin, one of the clerks, toward evening closing time.
“Tommy is always prepared,” she about store owner Tommy Hutcherson.
She and Mandy Garrish Jones said the day had been busy and that many customers seemed to be lost without access to their social media.
“They were disconnected,” Austin said. “Everyone asked when (the Net) would go back on, but we didn’t know.”
“We told people to enjoy the day,” Austin said.
“We told everyone we planned this so everyone would have to talk to each other,” Jones added.
Neither Tideland EMC nor Cape Hatteras Electric Company’s power grid was affected.
troubadour Janie Meneely will perform at the Coyote Music Den this Sunday,8 to 10 p.m. She grew up in Annapolis and has been described as “The Voice of the Chesapeake.”
“I can remember when the City Dock was jammed with work boats,” she said. Nowadays recreational boaters have replaced the sleek working vessels that hauled crabs, fish and oysters to markets around the Bay.
Her songwriting spans more than 25 years chronicling her own Bay experiences and capturing the stories she’s heard over the years—either as a little girl hanging around her father’s boatyard, or during her professional stint as a journalist for Chesapeake Bay Magazine. These songs and stories include the local ghosts, colorful watermen and tragic shipwrecks of the Chesapeake Bay.
Meneely will be joined on stage with Dutch-born guitarist/balladeer Rob van Sante.
The magic of Ocracoke begins on the ferry ride. Photo: C. Leinbach
The following came in June 10 from Hyde County lobbyists Henri and Joe McClees:
The NC General Assembly is moving quickly toward resolve its 2016 budget.
The House and Senate have each passed its own version ofHouse Bill #1030(the budget bill). TheHouse version(version 3) helps coastal transportation issues tremendously, providing for a stable funding source for ferry vessel purchases and removing ferry tolling. TheSenate version(version #6) leaves ferry tolling in place and provides no effective funding for ferry vessel replacement. This bill also reinstates the $150 priority pass fee that anyone could buy for any of the ferries.
Because the House & Senate did not agree, they each appointed “conferees” to work out their differences. The HB#1030 Conference Committee(21 senators and 44 representatives) was finalized yesterday, and has already begun work. One aspect of negotiations is to analyze the differences in spending in each major section of the Budget, including Education, Health and Human Services, Agriculture and Economic Resources, Justice and Public Safety, General Government, and Transportation. We need help in the Transportation Section of the Budget.
We are asking you to quickly contact the following Senators on the Conference Committee and politely ask them to protect coastal citizens and the coastal economy by providing for a stable funding source for ferry vessel replacements and by removing ferry tolling, specific including NO FERRY TAX for the Ocracoke Hatteras Ferry. Coastal citizens need help in the Transportation Section of this Budget!
Here are the Senators and their emails and Raleigh office telephone numbers. If you can only have time to contact a few, start at the top of the list and begin with Chairman Sen. Harry Brown.
Be brief, direct, and polite. Ask each Senator to provide (1) a stable funding source for ferry vessel replacement and (2) protect Ocracoke citizens from a ferry tax on the Ocracoke Hatteras ferry.
Email or call the Raleigh office of each Senator. If you cannot speak directly to the Senator, leave a polite voice message about the two (2) items in the above paragraph. Thank the Senator for his or her service to the citizens of North Carolina. Keep your message brief and focused.
Thank you for your help. We have been told the Senators have NOT heard from Ocracoke citizens this year as they have in past years on the ferry tax issue! They need to hear from you immediately. If you have any questions about the ferry tax issue, please do not hesitate to contact Joe or Henri. Call us on our mobiles phones. Best regards, Joe & Henri McClees
The ferry leaves Ocracoke in the early morning. Photo: C. Leinbach
From the N.C. Ferry Division June 11, 2016
Updated 6/13/16
Manns Harbor – Due to a mechanical issue on the M/V Swan Quarter, the North Carolina Ferry System’s Pamlico Sound routes will be on alternate schedules between Tuesday, June 14 and Friday, June 17.
The alternate schedules are as follows:
Tuesday, June 14:
Cedar Island to Ocracoke: 7 a.m., 10 a.m., 4 p.m.
Ocracoke to Cedar Island: 7:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m.
Swan Quarter to Ocracoke: 7 a.m., 1 p.m., 4:30 p.m.
Ocracoke to Swan Quarter: 10 a.m., p.m.
Wednesday, June 15, to Friday, June 17:
Cedar Island to Ocracoke: 7 a.m., 10 a.m., 4 p.m.
Ocracoke to Cedar Island: 7:30 a.m., 1 p.m, 4 p.m.
Swan Quarter to Ocracoke: 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4:30 p.m.
Ocracoke to Swan Quarter: 7 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 12:45 p.m.
The routes are scheduled to resume normal operations on Saturday, June 18.
Portsmouth Island’s ethereal beauty is captured in infrared photographs by Peter Aaslestad on view in the Ocracoke Preservation Society museum.
Photographs of Portsmouth Island in the infrared spectrum are on view through the summer at the Ocracoke Preservation Society Museum, and summer program have begun.
The images are by Peter Aaslestad, an architect from in Staunton, Va., who visited the island in 2014 to capture the conditions of the historic structures for a report commissioned by the Park Service.
While on Portsmouth, Aaslestad was struck by the shared beauty of the remaining buildings born of this harsh landscape and the incredible calm of the remote setting.
Infrared light is not in the natural visual spectrum for humans. It creates a ghostly sort of image of things that seems to go deeper into their essence. Water in particular is “seen” by infrared as a heavier presence. Living plant life is reflected as white, more transitory and ethereal.
In addition, the museum has begun its summer programs of museum walk-throughs Mondays and Fridays; Porch Talks on Tuesdays and Thursdays; and Children’s Crafts on Wednesdays.
Sherry Simonne O’Neal, 78, of Ocracoke, died on June 3 at her home.
A native of Ocracoke, she was the daughter of the late Herbert O’Neal Sr., and Katie A. O’Neal. Sherry was retired from the National Park Service and a member of Ocracoke United Methodist Church.
Sherry is survived by a nephew, Edward C. O’Neal, Jr. of Washington, Beaufort County; three nieces, Mary Anna Paul of Washington, Beaufort County, Donna Sue Beck of Delco, and Gloria Formy’eubal of Riegelwood;
A sister-in-law, Shirley Clayter O’Neal of Delco; four great-nieces, Carman O’Neal, Tina Snapp, Dawn Bordeaux and Amber Wilkins; four great-nephews, James Paul, John Paul, Scott Beck and Charles Formy’eubal;
Six great-great-nieces; six great-great-nephews; and four special friends, Alice Rosazza of Florida, Alton and Kenny Ballance both of Ocracoke, and Harry Clarke of Swan Quarter.
Along with her parents, Sherry was preceded in death by four brothers, Herbert O’Neal, Jr., Edward O’Neal, Sr.,Donald O’Neal and Bradford T. (Doody) O’Neal.
A funeral will be held at 1 pm on Friday (June 10) at Ocracoke United Methodist Church with Rev. Richard Bryant and Rev. Ivey Belch officiating.
Private burial will take place at the Ocracoke Community Cemetery.
Twiford Funeral Home, Hatteras, is assisting the family with arrangements. Condolences may be expressed atwww.twifordfh.com.
David Tweedie, left, executive director of Ocracoke Alive, and Desiree Christa Ricker, assistant executive director, talk about their new comedy revue about Blackbeard. Photo: C. Leinbach
Ocracoke continues to celebrate the golden age of piracy.
While Ocracoke Alive has put Julie Howard’s musical play “A Tale of Blackbeard” on hiatus, islanders and visitors will still be able to get their summer Blackbeard fix in a new revue at the Deepwater Theater.
The show “Blackbeard, an Historical, Hysterical Account,” is a mash-up of history and myth, and will be on the boards Mondays at 7:30 p.m. now (begun June 6) to Aug. 24, (except July 4), said performer David Tweedie.
“It will be like a family-friendly Monty Python meets Blackbeard history,” said Tweedie, who also is the fiddler for island contemporary folk band Molasses Creek.
“It’s a story of what we do know about Blackbeard versus the myths,” said Desiree Christa Ricker, co-writer of the show and Ocracoke Alive’s assistant executive director.
She is enjoying researching the history and dispelling myths.
“Once the facts are discovered, it’s just as exciting as the fiction,” she said.
While few facts are truly known about Blackbeard’s life, the two are using research by North Carolina historian Kevin Duffus, who has written extensively on Blackbeard.
“It will be part song-and-dance, limericks, silly commercials and game show,” Tweedie said.
The group expects to run this revue again next year and revive “A Tale of Blackbeard” in 2018, which will be the year of the 300th anniversary of Blackbeard’s demise here off Springer’s Point Nov. 22, 1718.
“The Blackbeard play is wonderful, but it requires a lot of momentum from a lot of cast members,” Tweedie said about the play that was revived in 2014 and 2015 after a 20-year hiatus. “We needed to take a break for a year or two.”
In addition to Tweedie and Ricker, cast members include Peyton Piquard and Gary Mitchell.
Tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for kids, and are available at the door, by calling 252-921-0260, or online at www.ocracokealive.org.
A percentage of tickets sales from Deepwater Theater shows support Ocracoke Alive’s student and community programming throughout the year.
Editor’s note: Other Blackbeard activities include Teach’s Hole Blackbeard Exhibit and Blackbeard’s Pirate Jamboree Oct. 28 to 30.
The Hyde County Services Center in Swan Quarter. Photo: P. Vankevich
By Connie Leinbach
For the fourth year in a row, Hyde County Manager Bill Rich has proposed a budget with no tax increase.
The budget of more than $12.5 million was passed at the June 6 county commissioners meeting at 6 p.m.
Rich explained that the total expenditures are $15,250,616, but $2,694,936 are state- and federally-mandated expenses for the Departments of Social Services and Health that the county has no control over.
The county’s overall tax base valuation has “dropped tremendously this year,” Rich said. “(The tax valuation)dropped by $56 million to below a billion dollars for the first time ever.”
Hyde County Manager Bill Rich
That equals about $333,000 the county is not collecting in taxes. Rich also noted that when residents turn 65, they can apply for a discount on their property taxes, which further reduces the total collected.
Another budget challenge is that the county experiences only a 94.67 percent collection rate on its property taxes, which is the fifth worse in the state. The state average tax collection rate is 98 percent. That translates to $325,000 in delinquent taxes, Rich said.
Rich has no plans to raise the tax rate, which is $.64 percent per dollar property valuation. To balance the budget, Rich “borrows” on paper from the fund balance, which is a surplus the state mandates all counties must have.
While the state mandates an 8 percent fund balance of the total revenues, Hyde’s fund balance is at 36 percent. Among the service changes, Rich proposes to save $100,000 a year through the creation of an Information Technology department.
Right now, the county spends about $250,000 for several IT contracts, he said. None are consistent, nor do they talk to each other. Along with this, the county expects to purchase Quickbooks for its departments and maintain a cloud-based storage system.
Rich’s budget calls for the creation of “non-emergent ambulatory services to our EMS.” “We already have all the equipment to do this,” he said. “We will need only two employees. This pays for itself plus makes the county an additional $100,000.”
Fiber/broadband internet service for the Ocracoke Community Center will be done by the end of July.
The commissioners in May voted to consolidate 911 service with Dare County, which Rich said will yield a $150,000 savings per for 20 years.
He projects total sales tax collection to be $1.3 million, up from $1.2 million this year. As for the Hyde County School District, the county will give them $1,578,000, which is “the most that the schools have ever gotten,” Rich said.
Last year the County funded $1.47 million and the year before that $1.137 million. This money will fund $222,000 in teaching positions, $48,000 for a Pre-K assistant for Ocracoke (first-ever county funded) and $25,000.00 towards athletics, of which $10,000 will help maintain Ocracoke’s ballfield.
While all counties in North Carolina are mandated to give a certain percentage of their budgets to their school districts, that money does not have to go to salaries.
“We’re one of the few counties in the state that funds any teaching positions at all,” Rich said. “The county’s job is to fund infrastructure.”
The all-star jam session of the 2016 Ocrafolk Fest. Photo: P. Vankevich
By Connie Leinbach
Cassie MacDonald feels that the Ocrafolk Festival is like a big family reunion.
She and her sister Maggie, both from Nova Scotia and who perform Celtic music, have gotten to know many of the musicians and locals.
“But somehow you meet someone new each time that you’ve felt you’ve always known,” she said in an interview as the festival wound down on a sunny Sunday. “It’s one of my all-time favorite festivals.”
Bob Zentz, left, introduces Maggie and Cassie MacDonald at the workshop stage of the Ocrafolk FEstival.
The annual festival of music and arts produced by Ocracoke Alive, held June 3 to 5, slipped in between two coastal storms, was doused Wednesday, leaving the main stage audience area on the Books to Be Red grounds a small lake along with numerous large puddles on School Road and Howard Street.
Volunteers worked Thursday pumping as much water as they could off the grounds.
“I’m the human clamp,” said Andrew Havenhand, as he held the hoses siphoning off the water from a pump operated by another volunteer, John Brock.
By Friday afternoon, the small pond in front of the stage had greatly diminished allowing for chairs and the sound booth to be set up, though a large area of mud remained in part of the seating area.
Despite a brief shower early Saturday morning, all of the artisans had set up, the sun had come out and the festival was a go.
Festival first-timers Cindy and Jim Barnett of Kitty Hawk were enjoying the different genres of music, including jazz, folk, world, rock, Celtic, bluegrass and more.
“It’s a good time,” Cindy said.
Islander Monroe Gaskins was enjoying the MacDonald sisters’ performance at the Workshop Stage beside the United Methodist Church.
Andrew Havenhand, an Ocrafolk Festival volunteer, holds hoses together while John Brock pumps water from a large puddle on the Books To Be Red grounds. Photo: C. Leinbach
“I come every year,” he said. “It brings a lot of people to the island.”
John Hodge of Lebanon, Pa., attended the festival for the day on Sunday with his family, all of whom were staying in Hatteras.
“I look forward to this every year,” he said. “Ocracoke has a lot to offer. I like all the restaurants and especially the music.”
Robin and Chad Macek of Wilmington were first-time artisans at the festival with their jewelry line called YouMeUS Designs, and were thrilled with their sales.
Robin and Chad Macek of Wilmington. It was Robin’s first-time as an artisan at the festival. Photo: C. Leinbach
“It was the best two-day festival we’ve been to,” Robin said. “We’ve been doing shows for four years.”
Delaney Golberg, a jewelry artist from Kitty Hawk, has been displaying her work at the festival for the last seven years.
The threat of rain didn’t deter her.
“I woke up at 6:30 (Saturday) and there was an orange and red spot right over the island (in her weather app), but by 10 a.m. the rain had passed,” she said. “It’ a great show and I enjoy it every year.”
Elizabeth Smith of Greenville won the raffle of the quilt “Block Party” made especially for the festival by the Ocracoke Needle and Thread Club.
But she almost didn’t get it.
Elizabeth Smith of Greenville, right, won the raffle of the quilt created by. Islander Debbie Leonard, left, helped make the quilt. Photo: C. Leinbach
The first ticket David Tweedie, president of Ocracoke Alive, pulled contained a number and not a name.
When no one came forth to claim the number, he pulled another one, which was Smith’s.
But when Smith went to the information booth to claim the queen-sized quilt, one of the volunteers, Deborah Leonard, who also happens to be a member of the quilting club, said that the first ticket pulled was hers.
Leonard was gracious in deferring to Smith, who has been attending the festival for 10 years.
“I’m not going to take it away from her,” Leonard said of the quilt. “I want you to have it.”
Tweedie, who is also the fiddler for Molasses Creek, the festival hosts, was happy with the festival.
“We were really fortunate,” he said Tuesday about the festival dodging the rain that returned late Monday afternoon and again Tuesday. “We’re fortunate with how everyone pitches in to make this festival happen, and everyone’s willing to adapt.”
He noted that fest-goers were excited with new acts, such as Lipbone Redding, the Bucket Brothers, the Oak Grove String Band and Michael Stanwood.
“The new faces make it a lively experience as well as the return of favorites, such as Beleeza, Kaira Ba, and the MacDonald Sisters, and new local groups, such as the Madame Presidents.” he said. “It was another magical weekend.”
Humberto Oliveira of Beleeza. Photo P. VankevichLipbone Redding performs in the Deepwater Theater. Photo: P. VankevichThe main stage crowd at the 2016 Ocrafolk Fest. Photo: C. LeinbachArtisans and food vendors line School Road. Photo: C. Leinbach
Face painting at the 2016 Ocrafolk Festival. Photo: C. LeinbachJim Alberti wows passersby with his flea circus. Photo: C. Leinbach
Artisan Delaney Goldberg from Kitty Hawk has been exhibiting her jewelry designs for the past seven festivals. Photo P. Vankevich
