The Ocracoke Observer will soon provide comprehensive information on voting in the Nov. 4 General Election. An early heads up is that the deadline to register to vote or update voter registration records is Oct. 10. Here is some important information provided by the Hyde County Elections Office so that you will be able to exercise your right to vote, come election time.

Voter Registration
Becoming a registered voter in Hyde County is simple, and there  are several ways to do so.
For online voter registration applications, visit http://www.ncsbe.gov/ncsbe/Voter-Information/VR-Form.  Hard copies can be obtained from the Elections Office during business hours, or any public library.  You can also register to vote while at the DMV.  To request an application by mail you can call the Elections Office at (252) 926-4194, send a fax to (252) 926-3707, or email a request to Viola Williams, vwilliams@hydecountync.gov.

Requirements for Voter Registration:

• A U.S. Citizen
  •  A resident of North Carolina and this county for 30 days before the election
  •  At least 18 years of age on or before the next general election
  •  Not registered and not voting in any other county or state
  •  If convicted of a felony, your rights of citizenship must have been restored

Future Voter ID requirements in North Carolina

By Connie Leinbach
The U.S. Coast Guard has officially made the Barney Slough—the longer, natural route between Hatteras and Ocracoke—an additional permanent waterway.

The formal announcement was made Aug. 25 at a press conference in the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, Hatteras.
This route has been the primary route since December after the Rollinson Channel—the short route between the islands—became unnavigable.
U.S. Coast Guard Captain Sean Murtagh, Coast Guard Sector North Carolina, stressed that the Coast Guard is not abandoning the short route because it is a federally-designated route and they must maintain it.
“Funding for shallow draft inlets has been a problem since 2005,” added Bob W. Keistler, navigational project manager with the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE).
Money to fund dredging from the Hatteras Ferry docks to the “gorge,” (which can move depending on the water) can only come from a Congressional appropriation, he said, and hiring the pipeline dredge would cost $1 to $2 million.
Jed Dixon, ferry division deputy director in Manns Harbor, discussed two charts of the inlet showing the heavy shoaling as well as the erosion of the end of Hatteras Island, which still is occurring.
If the inlet could be dredged and the “spoil” deposited at the end of Hatteras Island, it would help keep ocean water from flowing into the channel, noted Warren Judge, chairman of the Dare County Commissioners of which Hatteras is a part.
Judge acknowledged several local charter fishing captains in the audience, saying, “This is the road they use to go to work. We need to continue to work on the federal channel.”
Hatteras charter boats still use the short route through which they have found deep enough water and marked these spots with Clorox bottles.
With the short Rollinson Channel route the ferry division typically ran four ferries, said Ed Goodwin, ferry division chief, but with the longer route, they have been running six ferries, though each can only make five trips per 12-hour shift.
“It costs the ferry division $7,500 a day to run boats in the alternate channel,” he said.
While many islanders are thankful that at least this route is available, many others declined to talk on the record that they are upset with the loss of the short route.
Among the several Ocracoke business owners in the audience was Ernie Doshier, captain of the charter boat “The Gecko.”
“They didn’t really say anything at the meeting,” he noted afterwards. “But it’s imperative that the short route get opened up for us and Hatteras in a timely manner.”
Rudy Austin, Ocracoke Civic and Business Association president, said at the Aug. 13 meeting that last year, the short route began July 15 and business on Ocracoke picked up.
This year, some businesses are reporting about half of the customers than they usually see, Austin said.
Ridership numbers confirm this.
July ridership statistics provided by Tim Hass, ferry division spokesman, show that both cars and passengers on the Ocracoke-Hatteras route was down by 24 percent from last year with 37,572 vehicles and 112,204 passengers.
“(Having the long route) is really affecting our north-sound traffic,” Austin said.
It also affects the time islanders spend to go up the beach for doctor’s appointments and other errands as well as vendors supplying goods and services.
Heavy shoaling began in 2011 with Hurricane Irene and got worse with Super Storm Sandy in October 2012.
While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did some dredging with the pipeline dredge in early 2013, that work was incomplete and short lived.
During that time, the Coast Guard approved use of a natural channel which runs farther east in the Pamlico Sound. The long route takes about an hour and the short route has historically taken 40 minutes.  The state continues to do periodic dredging with the side caster, but that does not go into the federal channel.
While the Ferry Division is challenged to do something about the long wait visitors may have at the Hatteras docks, sometimes the wait keeps people on Ocracoke longer, noted Sean Death, manager of the Ocracoke Gas Station.
“I hear people say that they’ll just stay longer and go get something to eat,” he said. “Market the island for people to stay longer.”

Ocracats, Inc. will have a spay-neuter clinic Sept. 16 and 17 for Ocracoke Island feral cats in the new Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department building along Highway 12 with Dr. Howard Johnson, of Boone.

Thursday, Sept. 18, will be for surgery for island pets.

Trapping will begin Monday, Sept. 15, and will continue Sept. 16 and 17. So islanders are requested to keep their pets inside those days.
Islanders who have feral cats that need to be fixed should sign up on the flyer posted in the Post Office.   Ocracats also is looking for anyone who has feral kittens and/or pregnant cats.  Many visitors to the island request to adopt an Ocracoke cat and the group needs to know where the tame kittens are located.
That same week, on Wednesday, Sept. 17, Roanoke Island Animal Clinic will have their monthly clinic also in the new fire department building.
Ocracats also is looking for volunteer helpers the day of the clinics for various duties, such as, pre-surgery prep, recording information for rabies certificates, trapping cats, monitoring the “patients” after surgery and clean-up.  Those who want to help are asked to note  this on the sign-up sheets and include contact phone number.
Ocracats is an all-volunteer organization that relies on donations to pay for these spay-neuter clinics that help control the feral cat population. Donations and sales of T-shirts, calendars and note cards at Mermaid’s Folly also pay for food for the many colonies around the island and medications for the cats.
Ocracats is funded by donations, and from income they receive for the sale of t-shirts, note cards and calendars. With this, the group feeds several colonies of ferals at a cost of around $500 a month and pays all costs for spay/neuters of ferals and rescued cats. A large grant money for spay-neuter clinics over two years has been completed.
The group also keeps a small stock of medical supplies and budgets up to $100 for vet costs for sick cats.
The harsh reality is that Ocracoke does not have a vet.  A trip to the vet in Buxton is easily two hours each way; four hours to Manteo.
Ocracats volunteers are not trained in veterinary medicine and can do little more than offer some comfort and creative problem-solving when a crisis occurs.
Interested in volunteers should go to the Ocracats Facebook page and send a private message about helping.