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Local News

  • Ports authority subpoena links Easley investigation to Brunswick County

    The federal investigation into former Gov. Mike Easley has grand jurors reviewing documents related to a lease agreement between the N.C. Ports Authority and a Brunswick County marina.

    In the federal subpoena, served on the N.C. Ports Authority on June 5 and obtained by The Brunswick Beacon, subpoenaed documents include all documents relating to the award of the Southport Marina lease.

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  • Six women arrested in late-night prostitute sting plead guilty

    Six women arrested in last month’s late-night prostitution sting have pleaded guilty in Brunswick County District Court.

    Though none of the women appeared in court, the attorney for all six women, David Wortman, entered guilty pleas for them last Wednesday, July 1, assistant district attorney Chris Thomas said.

    District Judge Bill Fairley sentenced the six women to probation for their misdemeanor charges. Thomas said none of the women had any previous criminal history that the district attorney’s office could find.

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  • County tax collection rate closes fiscal year just shy of 96 percent

    June 30 marked the close of the 2008-2009 fiscal year, and Brunswick County’s tax collection rate came in just shy of 96 percent.

    County revenue collector Ken Perry said the final tax collection rate at the close of the fiscal year was 95.65 percent, less than Perry had hoped to collect. The lowest collection rate in recent years, it was far below 98 percent collection rate originally budgeted for the fiscal year.

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  • Beach patrol provides safety on the strand

    As the weather gets warmer, the county beaches draw thousands of people from across the country. In Ocean Isle Beach, the yearly 508 population can grow to as many as 25,000 people at any given time during the summer months.

    To help ease the workload of the Ocean Isle Beach Police Department, seven certified officers serve on the city’s beach patrol. Made up of Highway Patrol officers and retired law enforcement officials, at least one officer is on the beach daily between 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

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  • Sheriff’s office searching for missing man

    The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a missing Brunswick County man.

    Jody Daniel Babson, 29, has been missing since Tuesday.

    Babson was last seen hitchhiking on the Isabelle Homes Bridge leading to Wilmington around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

    Babson was reported to be traveling to California in an attempt to find construction work, according to a sheriff’s office press release. Babson, who has special health concerns, has not contacted his family since Tuesday morning.

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  • Sheriff's deputy charged in alcohol-related boating wreck, suspended pending investigation

    A deputy from the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office has been charged in connection with an alcohol-related boating collision during the holiday weekend, and the sheriff’s office has suspended him from his duties while the investigation continues.

    Charles Lee Murray, 37, of 599 Trellis Court, Bolivia, was charged with careless and negligent operation of a motorboat and operating a boat while impaired, according to Lt. Matthew Long of the N.C. Wildlife Resource Commission.

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  • Emergency services drills set for this week

    Brunswick County Emergency Services officials have large-scale disaster training drills scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, Thursday morning and Saturday, complete with demolitions.

    Around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, emergency officials will begin to demolish a home on Ocean Highway West in Ocean Isle Beach as part of the drill. The site of the demolition will be 6776 Ocean Highway West.

    Around 9 a.m. Thursday, emergency officials will demolish a second home, at 2968 Frontage Road NW in Shallotte.

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  • Man charged in alcohol-related boating collision

    A Bolivia man has been charged with careless and negligent operation of a boat and operating a boat while impaired after an alcohol-related boat collision on the Intracoastal Waterway near Holden Beach sent several people to the hospital.

    According to Coast Guard Petty Officer David Burr of the Oak Island station, at approximately 7 p.m. Friday, July 3, two boats collided, one containing a family of three, heading northbound and another, which was going in the opposite direction.

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  • TEA Party draws crowd in D.C.

    WASHINGTON, D.C.—“Give me liberty, not debt” was among signs raised as a crowd of 2,000 gathered for a TEA Party in front of the U.S. Capitol on the Fourth of July.

    The TEA Party—an acronym for Taxed Enough Already—has been one of dozens staged around the country, a rally for participants protesting rampant federal spending.

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  • Realtors see increase in activity; buyers seeking deals

    Brunswick County Realtors sold more homes in May than April, and the latest reports from local real estate agents indicate an unusually busy summer.

    Most agents agree potential homebuyers are still looking for deals such as foreclosures and short sales, and buyers and sellers are, in some cases, meeting in the middle.

    In April, agents sold 141 homes in Brunswick County. That number grew to 170 in May, a decrease of two from May 2008, according to the latest information from the North Carolina Association of Realtors.

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