http://pittcountynow.com Tue, 7 Sep 2010 05:47:09 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/347/15/woolard-statement-butterfield-return-rangel-money.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/347/15/woolard-statement-butterfield-return-rangel-money.html I'm angry and the voters in the First Congressional District are angry and rightfully so. We see the arrogance and corruption in Washington, and we don’t like it. We are especially upset that Rep. G. K. Butterfield, has violated the spirit of the Congressional Ethics Committee while he is a serving member of that body.

Charlie Rangel, who has served in Congress for 40 years, was charged with numerous ethics violations. It has taken the Ethics Committee two years of investigation to even ... Read More]]> Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:19:54 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/318/15/him-screamworks-love-in-theory-and-practice.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/318/15/him-screamworks-love-in-theory-and-practice.html The Finnish rock band known as HIM has returned with its seventh studio album, "Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice". The five musicians from Helsinki, Finland have started off the new decade with another sonic surprise of a rock album. This album is filled with heavy, goth-tinged, guitar-driven rock tunes that beckon the music-world to relish, savor and urge them to attribute this work to their precious rock and roll compilations. As an observer and listener of HIM's previous alb... Read More]]> Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:17:33 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/232/15/music-in-the-streets-one-man-s-observation.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/232/15/music-in-the-streets-one-man-s-observation.html I step out into the quaint, picturesque neighborhood of West Second Street in front of my downtown apartment. The early evening sun beams down through a vanishing mass of nimbus clouds, illuminating the facade of houses and freshly blossomed dogwoods that line the street. Seeking relief from a long week, I draw from my thermos a generous swill of a full-bodied beverage and begin my leisurely trek towards the heart of downtown Washington.

It is the evening of Music In The Streets, a monthly,... Read More]]> Mon, 3 May 2010 11:51:08 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/104/15/seasick-story.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/104/15/seasick-story.html I had just made my way topside onto the weather deck of a sixty-five foot harbor tug. It was a blustery, chilly, late-March day. My shipmates and I rigged the ship for sea as my Commanding Officer stormed fore to aft, barking orders and cursing at us. I could feel the deck vibrating beneath my boots as the ship’s diesel engine began to rumble. I grabbed hold of the vessel’s forward mooring line, called out to the pier to disconnect all lines and heaved around as ordered. The shi... Read More]]> Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:10:01 EST http://pittcountynow.com/post/58/15/return-of-the-light.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/58/15/return-of-the-light.html First built in the Croatan Sound in 1857 and disassembled a century later, the screwpile Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse shines again in Manteo as an architecturally identical replica.

“Nothing indicates the liberality, prosperity, or intelligence of a nation more clearly than the facilities which it affords for the safe approach of the mariner to its shores.” — Report of the Light-house Board, 1868

After years of planning, permits, and funding, the story of the Roanoke Marshes Li... Read More]]> Fri, 1 Jan 2010 12:50:17 EST http://pittcountynow.com/post/57/15/sailing-the-elizabeth-ii.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/57/15/sailing-the-elizabeth-ii.html Aboard the Elizabeth II, modeled after the 16th-century sailing vessel that brought the colonists to Roanoke Island, one writer finds himself buoyed by excitement and history.

I arrived at the dock on Silver Lake in Ocracoke just after dawn carrying my duffel bag, cameras, and a cup of steaming coffee. Although it was still very early, a small crowd had already gathered at the dock to take in the hustle and bustle involved in preparing the Elizabeth II, a 16th-century replica sailing vessel, fo... Read More]]> Fri, 1 Jan 2010 12:49:16 EST http://pittcountynow.com/post/56/15/island-music.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/56/15/island-music.html The members of Molasses Creek celebrate Ocracoke's community in song.

Gravel crunches beneath our feet as we walk from the car toward the Ocracoke Community Center. The parking lot is full — mostly pickup trucks with salt spray on their flanks, surf-casting rods on their front bumpers, and license tags that read OBX. A Day-Glo orange poster stapled to a wooden stake out by the road announces “Tonight! The Ocrafolk Opry!”

We enter the one-story, wood-sided building and search... Read More]]> Fri, 1 Jan 2010 12:47:37 EST http://pittcountynow.com/post/22/15/let-s-go-fly-a-kite.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/22/15/let-s-go-fly-a-kite.html An annual festival at Jockey’s Ridge celebrates the vision and invention that Francis Rogallo first tested there in 1948.

Each year, thousands of people from all over the country will descend on Nags Head as spectators and participants in a very special event — the Francis Rogallo Kite Festival. The Wright brothers’ story is well known. But there’s another equally interesting story grounded in Kitty Hawk — that of Francis and Gertrude Rogallo. The Rogallos invente... Read More]]> Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:22:02 EST http://pittcountynow.com/post/16/15/gone-fishing.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/16/15/gone-fishing.html Since 1937, the Foster family of Hatteras Island has been helping would-be anglers find their sea legs aboard daily charter boat fishing excursions.

It’s 6:05 a.m. at Hatteras Island, and the sky has brightened to a canvas gray. Captain Ernie Foster has had the diesel engine of the Albatross III warming for 15 minutes. He glances down at the glowing instrument cluster for his last-minute check of engine pressures and temperatures. His mate, Clyde, has stowed all gear from the charter part... Read More]]> Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:46:17 EST http://pittcountynow.com/post/7/15/rigs-of-rhetoric.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/7/15/rigs-of-rhetoric.html After a 20-year career driving transfer-trucks rolled away, an unexpected foray into academia proves that the best route is often found just around the bend.

I found a parking space on Front Street in Wilmington. I climbed out of my Mustang, dropped three quarters into the parking meter, looked around, and started walking toward Cape Fear Community College - a block away. It was a chilly September morning in1992. I shoved my hands into my sweatshirt pockets as I walked. My palms were damp. My p... Read More]]> Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:55:07 EST