The County Compass

BAYBORO COURTHOUSE – Seen here in 2024 with Larry Summers of the local Veterans Council, Lila & Shelby Mehring will again perform their emotional and moving rendition of the Star Spangled Banner during this year’s ceremony beginning at 10am on Monday, May 25. This is…

AURORA – Take it from a guy, who has attended quite a few Fossil Festivals over the past 20 years. THIS THING IS A BLAST!! Admission is free. Parking is free. Absolutely perfect family fun. You’ll see a ton of vendors, offering a gargantuan variety…

HAVELOCK – Students from Roger Bell New Tech Academy are being celebrated for their creativity and powerful storytelling after earning top honors in the 2025-26 Young Author “Educate, Advocate, and Empower” writing contest, hosted by the Twin Rivers Reading Council. The annual contest invites young…

NEW BERN – For the record, Republican Laurie Buckhout wears a lady’s 9 ½ shoe – but in this case, we are talking about white boots — which are a common sight in commercial fish houses throughout eastern North Carolina. The gift of foot gear…

Frederick Douglass once declared there is “No Progress Without Struggle.” An escaped slave, a leader of the anti-slavery movement in the North, editor of the abolitionist newspaper The North Star, and (after the Civil War), a diplomat for the U.S. Government, Douglass engaged in debates…

BAYBORO – Monday night, calling the INN AT PAMLICO “a bona-fide grassroots project,” Lorraine Yaeger, representing a nonprofit known as Tried By Fire, told the County Commission that this ambitious project to reduce recidivism and homelessness among formerly incarcerated women will soon break ground at…

By Katie Zehnder RALEIGH – North Carolinians are feeling the weight of rising property taxes, and lawmakers at the General Assembly are already discussing a levy limit in committee meetings as the ‘short session’ gets underway. During a March 18 meeting of the House Select…

This musical is based on the 1980 film starring (top left) Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Fonda. At top right are local performers, Anne Hayes (Fonda role); Regina Ruisi (Tomlin role); and Angie Loften (Parton role). The classic, time-tested production features smart comedy, strong…

The data from Singapore never lies. High vax rates, excellent tracking, perfect little petri dish for spotting what the jab is really doing long-term. If you’re new to my takes, I’ve got a thing for using Singapore as a crystal ball for global health shifts,…

BAYBORO – On one side is the recently concluded ‘mass appraisal’ of the county’s 17,000 parcels (which is supposed to document the much higher home values). On the other side, is a proposed tax rate for the 2026-2027 fiscal year of 52.5 cents per $100…

PharmaFiles by Aussie17 Editor’s note: The author, a former executive with Big Pharma who uses a pseudonym, filed reports with this newspaper throughout the pandemic that proved to be uncanny in their accuracy. SINGAPORE – Well, well, well… look who’s quietly closing the doors on…

By Ed Terry | Guest Commentary I will start with, I do not have a degree in economics or political science. I am just a retired working man living on a fixed income who loves Pamlico County (but not as much as when it was…