The Southern Shores police are seeking the public’s help with identifying the person(s) who illegally killed a deer with an arrow in Chicahauk last weekend.
In a release to local media, the police said that the deer was found dead about 9:30 a.m. Saturday near the turtle pond between 62 Spindrift Trail in Chicahauk and 61 Ocean Blvd. It did not report any further details of what was described on Nextdoor.com two days ago by a Chicahauk homeowner as an apparent poaching.
The news of the deer’s slaying first appeared on Nextdoor when a Chicahauk homeowner reported that a buck had been killed with an arrow and decapitated, presumably for his antlers. The homeowner said that a child discovered the buck’s remains.
This same homeowner reported hearing what she thought was gunfire in the area during the preceding days.
Hunting is not permitted in Southern Shores, and the “shooting or discharging” of arrows in town is specifically prohibited by Town Code sec. 22-5. The offense is a Class 3 misdemeanor.
If you have any information about the misguided and potentially dangerous person or persons who committed this soulless act, please contact the Southern Shores Police Dept. at (252) 261-331.
DELAY, AS EXPECTED; VACCINE REGISTRATION UPDATE: We have heard from another Southern Shores homeowner that when she went through the online vaccination registration last night, she received the following response upon submission of her form:
“Due to an overwhelming response, it will take time for our staff to call you back. It will likely be mid to late February before we are able to accommodate everyone in this phase, as vaccine supply is very limited. Please be patient as we work to provide you an appointment for your vaccine.”
The Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services reported yesterday afternoon that it did not anticipate registering people in Group 2 of Phase 1B—the next group of vaccine recipients prioritized in Phase 1B after people age 75 or older—until the “beginning of February.” It would now appear that this was an optimistic assessment.
As we have previously reported, the holdup with vaccinations is the amount of vaccine that the State of North Carolina receives from the U.S. government each week. The problem of limited supply does not originate with the State; it originates in Washington.
Dr. Mandy Cohen, Secretary of the N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services, said at the last COVID-19 briefing in Raleigh that the State can count on receiving 60,000 doses of each vaccine weekly “going forward.” Needless to say, this is a grossly inadequate supply for a state as populous as North Carolina.
Governor Roy Cooper and Secretary Cohen are scheduled to hold another COVID-19 briefing today at 2 p.m., which may be viewed on UNC-TV channel 3 or via livestream at https://www.unctv.org/watch/live-stream/eoc/.
Secretary Cohen receives word from the federal government of the State’s weekly supply of vaccine each Tuesday. Perhaps she will have encouraging news.
INAUDIBLE LIVESTREAM OF TOWN COUNCIL MEETING: We would like to report to you today what Dare County Manager/Attorney Bobby Outten said at last evening’s Town Council meeting about County funding for the Town’s 2022 beach nourishment project, but we were unable to hear him well enough on the meeting livestream to do so. A persistent hum drowned his voice. We can say only that Mr. Outten spoke at some length.
None of the speakers at the meeting, which lasted about an hour and 20 minutes, were clearly audible on the livestream we accessed. We checked the videotape this morning and encountered the same problems. If anyone has better success with the Town’s You Tube video of the meeting, please let us know.
We will try to catch up with Town Council news by speaking with Town Manager Cliff Ogburn as soon as possible. Please check back on Friday or Saturday.
Because of the COVID-19 vaccination reporting we did yesterday, we were unable to attend the meeting in person, but we will endeavor to do so in the future. The next Town Council session will be Jan. 19 at 9 a.m. in the Pitts Center.
Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 1/6/21
The Southern Shores Beacon 