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Today's News

  • Holden Beach Police officer fired after being charged with driving while impaired

    SHALLOTTE—A Holden Beach Police officer was arrested last Thursday night, charged with driving while impaired—while driving a police cruiser.

    Lt. Kendal Smith was arrested Thursday, July 9, and charged with driving while impaired and careless and reckless driving. Smith, 42, was fired from the police department the following day.

    Holden Beach Police Chief Wally Layne said Smith, who had been with the police department since 2000, was fired from the police department the day following his arrest, because “this was an extenuating circumstance.”

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  • Skinny-dippers shuck suits for record-setting event

    OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C.—Two hundred and forty-nine naked people jumped into the water at a local nudist resort Saturday to contribute to a record-setting skinny-dipping event.

    Whispering Pines Nudist Resort in the Grissettown area of Brunswick County was among nudist colonies throughout the country taking part in the World Record Skinny-Dip.

    Promptly at 3 p.m. “Eastern nudist time,” au naturel sunbathers submerged themselves in the pool and pond at the 35-year-old resort secluded by trees at the end of an unpaved road.

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  • Naturalization ceremony a unique experience

    You don’t attend a naturalization ceremony and leave unchanged.

    That’s the lesson I learned earlier this month when I was assigned to cover the annual Fourth of July Festival Naturalization Ceremony in Southport.

    Now, I’ve been to nearly every Fourth parade in Southport since I was born. (The only time I remember sitting one out is when I was eight-and-a-half months pregnant.)

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  • Shallotte Police arrest rape suspect behind Waffle House

    Shallotte Police on Monday afternoon arrested a North Myrtle Beach, S.C., man in the woods behind the Waffle House for rape, strangulation and assault.

    According to Police Chief Rodney Gause, at about 1:30 a.m. Monday, a victim was reported being raped behind the Waffle House on Whiteville Road.

    At about 1 p.m. Monday afternoon, someone spotted the suspect in the woods behind the restaurant, and police officers responded to the scene. Det. Ed Mardi and Det. Eric King responded, and King used a K-9 tracking dog to locate the suspect.

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  • St. Brendan continues its expansion with sanctuary, bell tower

    St. Brendan the Navigator Catholic Church on U.S. 17 near Shallotte has been bursting at the seams for years. Construction on its new sanctuary is well under way and is set to be complete by the end of the year, according to church officials.

    Once completed, the new, 9,000-square-foot addition will house a larger sanctuary to make room for more worshipers, decreasing the number of Masses, Father Robert Ippolito said recently.

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  • St. Brendan priest included in book of wisdom for young men

    The Rev. Hector LaChapelle, a priest at St. Brendan the Navigator Catholic Church, is featured in a new book called “A Better Man,” edited by Kelly Johnson.

    The book contains interviews and essays by famous and not-so-famous men with the intent of providing role models’ advice and observations on how to be a “better man” for boys and young men, according to a news release from the author.

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  • Annexation bill includes controversial referendum, referred to committee

    A bill in the N.C. General Assembly that would allow property owners in towns and in areas towns plan to annex to force a referendum on the annexation has been referred to the House finance committee.

    Speaker of the House Joe Hackney broke a tie last week, sending the bill back to committee. Rep. Frank Iler of Oak Island, along with other Republicans in the House, voted in favor of approving the bill.

    “I’m for anything that gives more rights to the property owners,” Iler said this week about his vote.

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  • Beauty pageants paint a perception of perfection

    It wasn’t until I moved to the South that I discovered the truth behind beauty pageants.

    Growing up in Midwest suburbia, they didn’t mean much more than tuning in once a year to catch the last five minutes of the Miss America pageant, only to see who was crowned that year’s queen.

    Living in the South, I have become more exposed to them and have quickly learned beauty pageants are much more than meets the eye.

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  • Resident agrees to fund beautification project

    OCEAN ISLE BEACH—A town resident has offered to pay more than $1,400 for a town beautification project along Causeway Drive after Ocean Isle Beach board commissioners expressed concern about funding it with town money.

    Jim Myers, a resident and contractor, agreed to pay for curbing for a landscaped berm along Causeway Drive after town commissioners expressed concern for the financial end of the project.

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  • Ocean Isle collects 98.85 percent of 2008-2009 taxes

    OCEAN ISLE BEACH—Less than 1 percent of last year’s taxes remain unpaid to the town of Ocean Isle Beach.

    Tax collector Wendy Barbee provided the board of commissioners with a settlement report from the 2008-2009 fiscal year at Tuesday’s meeting. The report shows 98.85 percent of all taxes have been paid, which leaves 1.15 percent—$43,589—uncollected.

    “Kudos to Wendy Barbee,” Mayor Debbie Smith said. “She has been diligent,” in working to collect taxes.

    BEMC AGREEMENT

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