A local man recently hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19 has died, according to a report yesterday by the Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services, which has classified the fatality as a non-COVID death.

Although the DCDHHS report gives no identifying details about the person who died, other than that he was hospitalized, it is clear from data posted online that he was a Dare County resident who was age 65 or older.

Based on the skimpy public-health data provided by DCDHHS, we surmise that the deceased person was a resident of Peak Resources, the long-term care facility in Nags Head that recently confirmed an outbreak of COVID-19. (See The Beacon, 9/17/20.)

In its announcement of the man’s death, the DCDHHS cited the State of North Carolina’s COVID-19 “Associated Death Case Definition” to the effect that a COVID-19-associated death, for surveillance purposes, is one “resulting from a clinically compatible illness that was confirmed to be COVID-19 by an appropriate laboratory test.”

There must be “no period of complete recovery between the date of COVID-19 diagnosis and the date of death,” it states.

Further quoting the associated death case definition, the report says that a death should not be reported as a COVID-19 death if any of the following are true:

1. “There is no laboratory or other diagnostic confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection.
2. “Novel coronavirus illness is followed by full recovery to baseline health status prior to death.
3. “After review and consultation there is an alternative agreed upon cause of death.”

It is often the case that people who die from COVID-19 have co-morbidities, which are pre-existing pathological or disease processes unrelated to COVID-19, such as diabetes and heart or lung disease. 

It seems to us that if the deceased man would not have been hospitalized BUT FOR his COVID-19 infection and would not have died last week BUT FOR that infection that his death was COVID-19-associated. But we know law better than we know pathology.

In any case, we find the language of the third exception about an “alternative agreed upon cause of death” to be so vague, imprecise, and discretionary as to be easily subject to abuse.  

There currently are eight active COVID-19 cases among Dare County residents, all of whom are in isolation.

SOME GOOD NEWS . . . MASKS THWART FLU TRANSMISSION, TOO.

Southern Hemisphere countries, which experience the annual influenza season earlier than Northern Hemisphere countries, such as the United States, have reported a mild 2020 flu season, which is just wrapping up now.

The flu season starts in the Southern Hemisphere in May and peaks in July and August, when countries there experience the height of their winter. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, Southern Hemisphere public-health authorities this year have reported the least number of flu cases in “recent memory.”

“They almost . . . call it an absent flu season,” the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said Thursday. “They’re not sure why this is the case, but the evidence strongly suggests that all the precautions they were taking to avoid COVID during their winter—namely masks, physical separation, avoiding crowds, washing hands—very well may have averted a flu season.”

The experience of Southern Hemisphere countries has long served as a preview of the influenza season that Northern Hemisphere countries can expect. Among other benefits, it enables vaccine manufacturers to target prevalent strains of influenza.

Dr. Fauci has warned previously of a “double whammy” in the United States of flu on top of COVID-19—but this may not turn out to be the case.

Naturally, the infectious disease specialist cautioned Americans not to let the encouraging news from the Southern Hemisphere lull them into complacency. He urged people to get a flu vaccine and to continue wearing their facial coverings, practicing physical distancing, and washing their hands.

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 9/19/20

Business owners and other employers in Dare County were urged today by County Board of Commissioners Chairman Bob Woodard to respond to a survey about their employees’ housing needs as part of a joint venture with the Development Finance Initiative (DFI) at the University of North Carolina’s School of Government.

Dare County has “engaged a development finance initiative” at UNC-CH’s SOG, Mr. Woodard said in a videotaped message that also addressed COVID-19 and other local issues, “to identify opportunities for new housing development.”

This action was taken, the Chairman said, in response to concerns expressed “for years” by local business owners and employers that their workers cannot find “suitable housing” on the Dare Outer Banks.

“More diverse residential opportunities are needed to support business,” he said.

The Development Finance Initiative at the SOG assists local governments with attracting private investment to communities that have struggled on their own to realize their economic development potential. These governments are often in small towns or rural areas that are considered economically distressed—which Dare County is not—according to DFI’s website. See https://dfi.sog.unc.edu/

As part of the development initiative process, DFI must gather “information about the specific housing needs of our workforce,” Mr. Woodard said.

The housing survey is available online at darenc.com/employerhousingsurvey. It has about 20 questions and is estimated to take about 10 minutes.

In other news, Mr. Woodard announced that work has begun “to make way for the new COA campus” on U.S. 64 in Manteo. The campus will be located on the site of the former Manteo middle and high school buildings and grounds.

THE BEACON, 9/17/20

Peak Resources of Nags Head has confirmed an outbreak of COVID-19 involving two residents and two staff members of the skilled nursing facility, according to a special report today by the Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services.

An outbreak of COVID-19 in a long-term care facility is defined by the State of North Carolina as two or more laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 within 28 days, according to the DCDHHS, which said it received notification of the first positive-COVID-19 test result by a Peak Resources resident on Sunday, Sept. 13. 

That day, the DCDHHS dashboard reported that two Dare County residents age 65 or older had been diagnosed with COVID-19, a man who had been hospitalized and a woman who was in home isolation.

The DCDHHS reported seven new COVID-19 cases on Sunday—during a weekend that The Beacon characterized as experiencing a spike in cases. (See The Beacon, 9/14/20.) The other five cases involved three local residents and two nonresidents, four of them under the age of 50.

New residents to N.C. long-term care facilities are required to be in quarantine for 14 days from the date of their admission, pursuant to N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services requirements, according to the DCDHHS’s report. It was during the recent quarantine of a new resident that two Peak Resources residents and two staff members “tested positive for the virus,” the report states.

Despite this breach of quarantine, the DCDHHS says that “Peak Resources has been strictly following all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and N.C. DHSS guidelines, which [have] included biweekly testing of all staff members since early August. As part of the biweekly testing plan, all Peak Resources staff members were tested on Sept. 8, 2020, and all were negative.”

After Sunday’s positive-test result, all Peak Resources residents and staff were tested on Monday and Tuesday, according to the DCDHHS, with the result being that, so far, two staff members have tested positive and all 72 residents have tested negative. Results of 11 of the 70 staff members’ tests for COVID-19 are still outstanding.

The two staff members who tested positive are likely to be the two Dare County COVID-19 cases reported by the DCDHHS dashboard yesterday: They are a woman age 25 to 49 and a woman age 50 to 64.  

On Tuesday, the dashboard reported that a Dare County man between the ages of 25 and 49 had tested positive for COVID-19; and on Monday, the dashboard reported positive test results for a local man between the ages of 25 and 49 and a resident male youth age 17 or younger.

“Positive COVID-19 cases in a long-term care facility understandably create concern for residents, staff, and family members,” said Dr. Sheila Davies, director of the DCDHHS, in a statement.

“We are working very close[ly] with the leadership at Peak Resources to support their efforts in mitigating the spread of COVID-19.”

According to the DCDHHS’s report, Melissa Harrison, the local administrator at Peak Resources, said that the facility has been “closely following the guidelines established by the CDC, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services, and the Division of Public Health” since late January.

In her COVID-19 update Tuesday, Dr. Davies stressed the importance of quarantining as an infection-prevention measure and urged people to respect a quarantine for the full 14-day period. (See The Beacon, 9/15/20.)

Dr. Davies’s update cautioned that violating a quarantine order can result in a misdemeanor charge, the conviction of which carries a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment.

While enforcement of such a misdemeanor can be difficult, she noted then, it becomes less so when the violation occurs in a skilled nursing facility where the residents and staff are supervised.

For more information about COVID-19 at Peak Resources, the DCDHHS refers you to  www.peakresourcesinc.com and advises that you may obtain current information by selecting “COVID” in the black menu bar at the top of the page. When we did this today, we found no disclosures by Peak Resources of the outbreak.

There currently are 13 active COVID-19 cases among Dare County residents, according to the DCDHHS dashboard: 10 of them are in home isolation; two are in isolation outside of Dare; and one is hospitalized outside of the area.

ON THE STATE LEVEL

Daily new COVID-19 case reports at the state level continue to fluctuate this month—with a high of 2,111 being recorded Sept. 1 and a low of 716 on Sept. 8—according to NCDHHS dashboard numbers. Today’s 1,552 new cases are the most reported since Sept. 5. Total new cases yesterday were 1,137.

The number of daily hospitalizations statewide have tended to stabilize, generally ranging between 800 and 950. The NCDHHS dashboard reported 894 hospitalizations today.

As of today, 3,180 people in North Carolina have died because of COVID-19.

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 9/17/20

Dare County reported today another spike in COVID-19 cases locally, with five more cases being announced by health officials, one of them a non-resident woman age 65 or older who has been hospitalized.

The county health department also confirmed today that direct contact, often with an infected family member or an intimate, is the predominant means by which COVID-19 has been transmitted to people recently diagnosed locally with the disease.

Of the five new cases reported today, only one is a Dare County resident: a man between the ages of 25 and 49 who is in home isolation. Besides the 65+ nonresident, who is hospitalized outside of the area, the other nonresidents are all between the ages of 25 to 49 and are in isolation. Two men are isolating in their home counties, while a woman is isolating in Dare County.

In its update today of new COVID-19 cases reported since last Friday, the Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services stated that 80 percent of the 20 cases—13 on the weekend, two yesterday, and five today—definitely acquired the virus from a family member, a close contact, or through direct contact with someone who was not an intimate, but was known to have tested positive for COVID-19, either in Dare County or outside of the area.

The DCDHHS could not determine through contact tracing how four of the 20 cases, or 20 percent—all of whom are nonresidents—acquired the virus. Of these four, the DCDHHS said only that it is “unclear” how they contracted COVID-19.

RESPECTING QUARANTINES

The DCDHHS also stressed in today’s update the importance of quarantining as a preventive measure.

“We continue to see the predominant way COVID-19 is spreading in our community is through direct contact,” it stated. “[Quarantining is a powerful public health tool to help reduce the spread of infectious diseases.] We use quarantining to separate individuals who have been exposed to a person who has a laboratory-confirmed positive test for COVID-19. The quarantine period is for 14 days from the date of last exposure to the positive individual.”

DCDHHS said that it is “critical” for people who have been notified by the county health department that they are direct contacts of confirmed positive cases to “stay in quarantine for the entire 14-day period, even if you have a negative test.”

Just this week, according to the DCDHHS, several new positive COVID-19 cases arose because the individuals had contact with someone in quarantine. The quarantined person tested negative for COVID-19 on Day 3, but became symptomatic by Day 10 and then tested positive.

If you are unaware that a negative COVID-19 test can be a false negative, just as a positive COVID-19 test can be a false positive, you have not done your homework.

The DCDHHS cautioned that violating a quarantine order can result in a misdemeanor charge, the conviction of which carries a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment, but it also acknowledged that enforcement is difficult. The health department does not monitor people in quarantine.

“Individuals must do the right thing,” the DCDHHS urged, “by being responsible and showing concern for others.”

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 9/15/20

New COVID-19 cases in Dare County spiked over the weekend, as 13 more people were diagnosed with the disease caused by the coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2, including a local man age 65 or over who was hospitalized.

The last time Dare weekend case reports exceeded a dozen was July 25-26. The last time the Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services’ dashboard recorded any new cases on a Sunday was Aug. 16. New-case report numbers have been trending downward in Dare County recently, just as they have statewide. 

Yesterday, however, the DCDHHS reported seven new COVID-19 cases, five of them Dare County residents and two of them nonresidents. On Saturday the DCDHHS reported six new COVID-19 cases, all of them nonresidents, who were transferred to isolation in their home counties.

COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Dare County since March now total 495: 264 among residents and 231 among nonresidents. The percentage breakdown of cases according to age is: 13 percent, for age 17 and under; 24 percent, ages 18 to 24; 33 percent, ages 25 to 49; 19 percent, ages 50 to 64; and 11 percent, age 65 or older. Two people have died.

The newly diagnosed Dare County residents are two women between the ages of 24 and 49; a man between the ages of 50 and 64; and a man and a woman age 65 or over. The man was hospitalized outside of the area.

The newly diagnosed nonresidents represent a mix of ages, as follows:

One female age 17 or younger;

One female and one male, between the ages of 18 and 24;

Two women between the ages of 25 and 49;

Two men and a woman between the ages of 50 and 64.

DCDHHS’s update tomorrow will tell us if there are personal relationships among any of the 13 people and if any of them share a common source of infection.

The last time the DCDHHS reported more than five new COVID-19 cases on a single day was Sept. 1. As we shift into the Outer Banks’ second summer season—this one post-Labor Day—and a decreased, but steady flow of vacationers continues, we may see more spikes in daily case reports.  

U.S. public health officials agree that mass gatherings, especially indoors and especially among people who do not wear face coverings, are prime for transmission of COVID-19.

Dr. Mandy Cohen, Secretary of the N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services, described the statewide COVID-19 situation last week as “simmering.” Although lab-confirmed daily cases statewide have been trending downward since a high of 2,045 on Sept. 4, Dr. Cohen said there are still too many being reported to further ease restrictions on businesses.

The NCDHHS reported 1,196 new COVID-19 cases statewide yesterday and 1,454 new cases on Saturday. Last week, however, daily new cases dipped below 1,000 for three consecutive days, in line with a downward trend.

The number of hospitalizations statewide for COVID-19 cases also has declined recently, as has the percentage of positive test results among the total completed tests. Dr. Cohen expressed cautious optimism: She is seeking constancy in these declines without any spikes.

As of yesterday’s NCDHHS dashboard report, 3,052 people had died statewide as a result of COVID-19, and 831 were hospitalized. Since March, the NCDHHS has recorded 184,936 confirmed COVID-19 cases in North Carolina.  

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 9/14/20    

No sooner had we mentioned the unusually heavy cut-through traffic yesterday than Beacon reader Greg Pensabene submitted this photo of the traffic backed up on Sea Oats Trail, at the Hwy. 12 intersection, around 4:45 p.m., to prove it. Vacationers fleeing COVID-19 elsewhere are driving an increase in post-Labor Day occupancy at Outer Banks rental properties, extending the summer into October.

The Dare County League of Women Voters, in partnership with the N.C. Coastal Federation, is sponsoring virtual candidate forums via Zoom later this month for the Dare County Board of Commissioners and Dare County Board of Education races.

We congratulate the Dare LWV for bringing voters their traditional election-year forums for local candidates despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Dare County voters have no other opportunity than these events to see and hear their potential representatives respond in a nonpartisan setting to questions that they themselves ask.      

The eight candidates running for the five seats up for election on the County Board of Commissioners will appear in a webinar on Tues., Sept. 22, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.; and the five candidates vying for a seat on the Board of Education will appear in a webinar on Thurs., Sept. 24, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

To register for the Board of Commissioners webinar on Sept. 22, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gZbhsNwrTW-O9gafD5c-Ag

To register for the Board of Commissioners webinar on Sept. 22, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gZbhsNwrTW-O9gafD5c-Ag

After you register to attend the virtual forum, a link enabling you to join the webinar at the assigned date and time will be emailed to you.

ABOUT THE BOARDS, THE CANDIDATES

Each of the county boards has seven members, who represent a total of five geographic districts in Dare and serve four-year staggered terms. Elections take place in November of even-numbered years.

District 1 covers Roanoke Island and the Dare County mainland and is served by two commissioners and two BOE representatives. District 2 encompasses Nags Head, Colington, and Kill Devil Hills and is also served by two representatives on each board. District 3 includes Duck, Southern Shores, and Kitty Hawk, and District 4 covers Hatteras Island. District 5 is an at-large district.

The seven members of each board elect their own chairperson and vice-chairperson.

The chairperson of the Dare County Board of Commissioners also serves as the chairperson of the Dare County Control Group, which is the county’s governing body in an emergency, such as the one we are currently experiencing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

All of the BOC and BOE candidates whose names appear on your 2020 ballot (see photo above for back side of the two-sided ballot) are participating in the League’s forums, even those who are running unopposed. They include, in the order that they are listed on the ballot:

BOC, District 1: Wally Overman, Republican, unopposed

BOC, District 2: Amanda Hooper Walters, Democrat; Robert L. (Bob) Woodard, Sr., Republican

BOC, District 3: Steve House, Republican; Kathy McCullough-Testa, Democrat

BOC, District 4: Danny Couch, Democrat, unopposed

Both Mr. House, the current District 3 (Southern Shores, Duck, Kitty Hawk) incumbent, and Ms. McCullough-Testa live in Southern Shores.

There currently are no women or African Americans on the Dare County Board of Commissioners.

The candidates running for a seat on the Dare County Board of Education include, as they are listed on the ballot:

BOE, At-Large: Charles Parker, Democrat; David Twiddy, Republican

BOE, District 1: Bea Basnight, Democrat; Carl Woody II, Republican

BOE, District 2: Jen Alexander, Democrat; Susan Bothwell, Republican

BOE, District 4: Mary Ellon Balance, Republican, running unopposed

Mr. Twiddy, of Manteo, is the District 5 incumbent; his opponent, Mr. Parker, lives in Kill Devil Hills. Both Ms. Basnight, who is the current BOE chairperson, and Mr. Woody are from Manteo.

Ms. Alexander, of Colington, and Ms. Bothwell, of Nags Head, are vying for the District 2 seat that incumbent Harvey Hess is vacating at the end of his term. 

Ms. Balance, of Hatteras, is the incumbent District 4 representative. She also serves currently as vice chairperson.

As The Beacon reported on 9/11/20, Margaret Lawler, a Southern Shores homeowner, currently represents District 3. Her term expires in November 2022.

There currently are three women and four men on the Board of Education, one of whom is African-American.

The League is already collecting questions for the candidate forums. You may submit questions for the BOC and BOE candidates by email to DareLWV@gmail.com. Be sure to specify the forum and include your name and town of residence.

Both virtual forums will be videotaped and available to be viewed on YouTube, Current TV, and other local media outlets. 

PLANNING BOARD VACANCY

A vacancy exists on the Town Planning Board for an alternate to serve out the remainder of the three-year term of Lynda Burek, who was appointed to the Board as a regular member on Aug. 18.

Ms. Burek, who replaced regular member Don Sowder on the full Board, initially was appointed on Jan. 7, 2020 to replace Tony DiBernardo as first alternate to the Planning Board after Mr. DiBernardo was named on the same day to the full Board. The first alternate’s term runs until June 30, 2021.

Second Alternate Robert McClendon, who also was appointed Jan. 7, 2020, replaced Michael Basilone, who resigned. Mr. McClendon’s term also runs through June 30, 2021.

Mr. Sowder resigned from the Planning Board on Aug. 1, after just a year. Ms. Burek will serve out the remainder of his term, which runs until June 30, 2022.

If you are interested in applying for the Planning Board vacancy, which is a voluntary position, you may submit an application to info@southernshores-nc.gov or to the Town Hall, 5375 N. Virginia Dare Trail, Southern Shores, NC 27949.

You will find an application form, as well as information about the Planning Board, which also serves as the Town Board of Adjustment, at:

Click to access 10-14-16-Board-Volunteer-Application.pdf

Besides Ms. Burek and Mr. DiBernardo, Southern Shores homeowners Ed Lawler, David Neal, and Andy Ward are on the Planning Board. Mr. Ward is the chairperson.

John Finelli serves on the Board as the Extraterritorial Jurisdiction representative, voting only on matters pertaining to Martin’s Point. Mr. Finelli is a Dare County appointee.

CUT-THROUGH TRAFFIC STUDY

As expected, the Town Council unanimously approved on Sept. 1 the hiring of a traffic engineer consultant to conduct a study of the Southern Shores summertime traffic and make recommendations for relieving the cut-through traffic and otherwise improving congested conditions. It is anticipated that Town Manager Cliff Ogburn will present to the Council at its Oct. 6 meeting the proposals he has received from consultants so that it can choose the one to conduct the study, which the Council authorized funding up to $7,500.

The Beacon will update this story as soon as we can. We found it ironic that certain Town Council members insisted at the Sept. 1 meeting that the study be conducted without “emotion” and “bias” when, in fact, their bias against doing anything about the cut-through traffic has thwarted discussion about previous action initiatives for years.

Yesterday we observed a steady flow of vacationer traffic heading north on Hickory Trail, which was the heaviest around 4 to 5 p.m. We cannot recall ever noticing weekend cut-through traffic this late in the calendar year.

Dare County lately has been reporting few new COVID-19 cases, and nearly all of them can be traced to direct close contact with a person known to be infected. We will give you the latest COVID-19 numbers in our next report.

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 9/13/20

On Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, 19 men hijacked four airplanes bound for the West Coast of the United States and carried out the deadliest terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil in a mission orchestrated by al-Quaida leader Osama bin Laden.

“Where were you when you first heard about the 9/11 attacks?” became the historic question of a lifetime for a new generation of Americans, just as “Where were you when you heard about JFK being shot?” was for an earlier one.

Sept. 11 is now commemorated as Patriot Day, which is alternately known as National Day of Service and Remembrance, and U.S. and state flags fly at half-staff from sunrise to sunset.

Today we remember the 2,977 people who died as a result of the attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the crash of United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pa., as well as those who lost their lives later because of their exposure to the toxic environment of the crash scenes and other damage they suffered that did not kill them immediately.

We also think about the loved ones of the thousands of people who died on 9/11 because we know their pain endures. It is the fate of all survivors that no matter how or when their loss occurs, there will always be some pain, if the love was genuine. 

Today we recall the devastating events of 19 years ago because in divisive times, like those in which we are living now, we believe that the observance of a national day of remembrance is unifying. It reminds us of what we have in common and share. We are all joined as a people in our feelings of loss, our desire for remembrance, and our belief in hope. We all want things to be better.

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 9/11/20

Friday trash collections in Southern Shores ended last week with the Labor Day weekend. If you wheeled out your garbage can for trash collection today, you will be wheeling it back (if you would, please), still filled with garbage.

The Town’s Monday trash collection continues, as usual, year-round, and the recycling pickup remains on Wednesday mornings.

Southern Shores Town Manager Cliff Ogburn suggested at the Sept. 1 Town Council meeting that a temporary resumption of trash collections on Friday may occur, if vacation home occupancy in September and October warrants it. But, as of now, there is no plan to resume it.

PLEASE NOTE: The Town Council workshop meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 9 a.m., has been canceled. 

CANDIDATE FORUMS

The Beacon has been relatively quiet this month because we have been very busy elsewhere. We are keeping an eye on local news, but doing very little reporting. This status should continue through most of September, but we do plan to post occasional updates of news highlights, including one this weekend.

Please mark your calendars for the following candidate forums sponsored by the Dare County League of Women Voters, in partnership with the N.C. Coastal Federation, and presented as Zoom webinars:

*The Dare County Board of Commissioners candidate forum will be held Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m.

*The Dare County Board of Education candidate forum will be held Thursday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m.   

Two Southern Shores residents are vying for the District 3 seat of the Board of Commissioners, which represents Southern Shores, Duck, and Kitty Hawk. They are Kathy McCullough-Testa, a Democrat, and incumbent Steve House, a Republican.

Board Chairman Bob Woodard also has competition for his District 2 seat, which represents Nags Head, Colington, and Kill Devil Hills. His opponent is Democrat Amanda Hooper Walters.

Three of the four Board of Education seats up for election are being contested: an at-large position and representatives for Districts 1 and 2. Southern Shores homeowner Margaret Lawler, who represents District 3 on the seven-member Board, which includes Southern Shores/Duck/Kitty Hawk, is in the middle of her four-year term.

We will provide details about the candidate forum webinars in our upcoming news update. 

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 9/11/20

Police arrested Ken A. Kelley of North Dogwood Trail in Southern Shores on Aug. 29 and charged him with various drug-dealing and drug possession offenses after executing a search warrant at his residence and seizing “a large amount of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and drug equipment,” according to a media statement released yesterday by the Southern Shores Police Dept.

The Department’s release also announced three other recent felony drug-related arrests in Southern Shores, but only one was of a town resident.

This is the second time in a month that law enforcement officials have arrested a North Dogwood Trail resident for drug crimes. On Aug. 5, the Dare County Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop on South Dogwood Trail near the Kitty Hawk Elementary School and arrested Carlton Lynn Morris, Jr., charging him with trafficking in heroin and possession of cocaine, the Sheriff’s Office reported last month.

Mr. Kelley was reportedly released on a $4,000 secured bond.

Mr. Morris was released previously on a $15,000 secured bond, according to the Dare County Sheriff’s Office, which credited the Camden County Sheriff’s Office with assisting in its investigation and arrest.

Mr. Morris was described by the Dare County Sheriff’s Office as being a resident of the 300 block of North Dogwood Trail. The Southern Shores Police Dept. did not provide a block address for Mr. Kelley in its statement.

North Dogwood Trail is a tree-lined, lightly traveled road that runs along the Currituck Sound. The peaceful and picturesque street becomes a single lane at 291 N. Dogwood and dead-ends in a secluded cul de sac, where the highest numbered address is 341 N. Dogwood.

Among the charges filed against Mr. Kelley were felony possession with the intent to sell and deliver schedule VI (marijuana) and felony maintaining a dwelling, according to the Southern Shores Police announcement.

It would appear that Southern Shores has had a drug house on North Dogwood Trail—certainly rumors have been to that effect—but the police statement does not elaborate on the situation. The charge of “felony maintaining a dwelling” refers to maintaining a dwelling for use, storage, or sale of controlled substances.

During his report to the Town Council Tuesday evening, Police Chief David Kole said that most of the people arrested in town lately on drug-related charges are “not from here,” but rather from “across the bridge.”

Drug-related arrests have increased this summer over last summer, he said, an increase that he attributed to the pandemic and the influx of people to the Outer Banks. Southern Shores’ drug-related arrests have been the result of either traffic stops or “drug incidents we’ve been investigating over several months,” Chief Kole said.

Southern Shores police officers made seven drug-related arrests in July, according to the Chief’s report for that month. In August, he said, 16 total criminal arrests occurred, involving 37 charges, and 19 of those charges were drug-related. He did not specify how many of the 16 arrests were of people charged with drug-related offenses.

Chief Kole described the drug offenses as being for “dealing . . . selling and using,” in response to a question from a Town Council member about the nature of the offenses.

Overall, according to the Chief, the Police Department received 2,045 “calls for service” in July, an increase of 53 percent over the 1,338 calls received in July 2019. In August, he said, the Department received 1,873 calls for service, an increase of 49 percent over the 1,257 calls received in August 2019.

Chief Kole also announced that in the next two weeks Southern Shores officers will start wearing body cameras in the field.  

(If you would like to read about the three other drug-related arrests made by the Southern Shores Police Dept., one of which was of a Virginia fugitive now living in Nags Head, we refer you to reports in The Coastland Times and OBX Today, which reproduced the press release. )

After his report to the Town Council, Chief Kole was asked about how many of the traffic citations issued by his officers in July and August were attributable to the cut-through traffic. His quick, precise response of “73 percent” elicited laughter.

If you would like to know how many citations 73 percent would be, we refer you to the YouTube videotape of the Town Council’s meeting and Chief Kole’s report therein.

The Beacon tuned into the Council meeting live via Zoom and had persistent problems with hearing the speakers, especially Chief Kole. In preparing this posting, we viewed a section of the YouTube meeting videotape and discovered, much to our surprise and delight, that not only could we hear every word of every speaker, but we could actually see speakers who are typically off-screen or who have their backs to the camera.

The videotape camera actually followed the action of the meeting and focused on speakers! When Town Manager Cliff Ogburn spoke, we could see his face, not just his back. It’s a breakthrough!

Watching the meeting on videotape turned out to be a far more productive exercise for us than joining it live on Zoom, a communication platform that will always show a static picture and be hampered by sound-quality issues.

Thanks to a roving videotape camera, we could see Chief Kole at the speakers’ lectern, as well as Fire Chief Ed Limbacher, who reported Tuesday that the architects of the new fire station on South Dogwood Trail will do a final walk-through with Town Building Inspector Buddy Shelton on Sept. 16-17. Once Mr. Shelton issues a certificate of occupancy, the SSVFD will move in, Chief Limbacher said.

THERE WILL BE GARBAGE PICKUP ON LABOR DAY, BUT NO MORE FRIDAYS

Today was the last scheduled garbage pickup this year in Southern Shores on a Friday. The Town returns to its off-season schedule on Monday. Please note: Garbage will be collected on Monday, Labor Day.

Mr.Ogburn left open the possibility that, if the tonnage of trash produced by visitors to Southern Shores continues in September and October to be as high as it was over the summer, Friday garbage pickups may resume for the short term.

FLAG FLYING AT HALF-STAFF

You may have noticed the North Carolina flag being flown Wednesday, yesterday, and today at half-staff. Governor Roy Cooper ordered all state flags at state facilities to fly at half-staff from Sept. 2 until sunset today in honor of former N.C. Representative Melanie Wade Goodwin, 50, who died Tuesday of breast cancer.

An attorney, Representative Goodwin served three terms in the N.C. House (2004-10), representing the 66^th district, which includes Richmond and Montgomery counties and a part of Stanly County. In 2008, Ms. Goodwin became the first member of the N.C. General Assembly to give birth while in office, when her second daughter was born.  

Representative Goodwin decided not to run for a fourth House term and was appointed to the N.C. Industrial Commission. She was Chief Deputy Commissioner of the Industrial Commission at the time of her death.

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 9/4/20