Category: LOCAL

Mask Wearing prompts experiment

ARAPAHOE – Jeff of The County Compass newspaper recently asked me to personally conduct a test of masks which are used these days to prevent spread of the China Virus pandemic. As a former Magnavox, Motorola and RCA electrical engineer, I typically approach this kind…

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Son of Community College president dies after six-year battle with ALS

Dr. Robert James “Bobby” Ross, MD, PhD, son of Pamlico Community College President Dr. Jim Ross and his wife, Mrs. Pam Ross, died Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, at his parents’ home after a courageous six-year battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS. He was 38….

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Groundwater tough to swallow?

RALEIGH – Here’s your chance to complain! Once every three years, state law requires regular reviews of groundwater water quality standards. Next week’s Feb. 2 public hearing is ‘virtual;’ however, written comments can also be submitted by email or through regular Postal Service channels. Last…

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STEM Grant for Fossil Museum

Aurora Fossil Museum is the recipient of a generous Duke Energy Foundation Grant, which will   support “Fossil Kits for NC Science Teachers Program.” The museum’s hard-working executive director, Cynthia Crane, is to put it mildly – ECSTATIC:   “This grant will help provide interactive,…

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County bites financial bullet $3 million plus approved for water system

Pesky ‘hardness’ of aquifer likely to remain a problem All of Pamlico County – with the exception of Oriental and homes with their own wells – relies upon the Water Department. The utility operates as an ‘enterprise fund’ — a fancy term for a government-owned…

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Grantsboro Piggly Wiggly closing February 28

GRANTSBORO –  Billy Flockhart, who owns two Piggly Wiggly stores in Pamlico County, confronted economic reality Monday morning.  “I will be closing down the Grantboro store on February 28,” wrote Flockhart, in a press release to this newspaper,   just hours before meeting with staffers….

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Veteran Tax Return Preparer Always Puts Clients First

WASHINGTON, N.C. – Sharper than a tack, Richard Pitts, 74, has been preparing tax returns for more than five decades. There may be someone, somewhere, somehow who has a longer track record — but no one anywhere has more concern for a still-growing roster of…

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Black panther spotted

GRANTSBORO – Steve Thompson, a new resident of our area, sent me an email last week. You guessed it – Thompson had a quick story to tell: “Last night (June 30) my wife and I saw a very big black panther about to cross Hwy…

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A concerned resident quietly removed this label from a canister on board a DOT vehicle as spraying was underway several weeks ago.

Officials respond to complaints

Herbicide for roadways ‘safe,’ says DOT Thank you for contacting the NC Department of Transportation regarding roadside vegetation in Pamlico County.  NCDOT utilizes industry-approved techniques to control the undergrowth of small trees, bushes and grass along the roadsides. Mowing is the primary tool used by…

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DOT ! Answer 11 questions.

By Jim Sherwood VANDEMERE — I was away on a vacation out west for a couple of weeks and was appalled to see what had happened while I was gone. What I am talking about is the defoliation — by obviously very poisonous chemicals along…

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Chemical burning of county must stop

By Evie Henderson PAMLICO COUNTY — With reference to Jeff Lomer’s letter in the Sept. 17 issue of The County Compass, I wish to add my horrified voice to his. A couple of weeks ago, when I drove out of my subdivision — only a…

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‘Prowlers of Pamlico County’ exist

By Ivia Nathaniel NEUSE ROAD – Coming home Wednesday night, Jan. 16, at approximately 7 p.m. on Neuse Road, about 1500 feet from the corner of Scott Town Road, a sleek black long slinky cat sloped across the highway, barely missing the front grill of…

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