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A plan that includes enforced two-hour parking in Downtown New Bern cleared a hurdle on Tuesday. Following a public hearing during which a committee’s recommendations went largely unchanged, the board asked its staff to prepare an ordinance and bring it back for a vote at the board’s first meeting in February. A committee met over several months in 2017 to come up with ways to solve a perceived problem with downtown parking, with any decisions on the committee’s recommendations put off until the Board of Aldermen’s first meeting in January to enable new aldermen to weigh in on the issue. Alderman Sabrina Bengel, whose wardRead More →

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Ward 1 Alderman Sabrina Bengel watches a television monitor on which former governor Pat McCrory was announcing he had named her to the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.   The Request and Petition portion of the Board of Aldermen meeting took an unusual twist on Tuesday evening when it was announced an alderman had been the recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. Following several citizens who spoke on subjects ranging from naming rights on fire engines to plans for First Street, downtown businessman Buddy Bengel took the microphone to announce that Sabrina Bengel, his mother, had received the award. The awardRead More →

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Things are getting back to normal now that the holidays are behind us. Just kidding. With snow and ice still blanketing the region, it’s like having an extra week off for the Christmas break. Schools have been closed since Jan. 3 and were closed again today. So much of New Bern was shut down last week, it nearly felt like Christmas Day. According to the National Weather Service, New Bern officially received 6 inches of snow overnight between Jan. 3 and Jan. 4. Breezy conditions created deep drifts in places, and sub-freezing temperatures kept the snow fresh and froze what was left, making traveling difficult. Still,Read More →

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A notice from Craven County Schools: Craven County Schools will be closed for students on Monday, Jan. 8.  Essential staff (district maintenance, school custodians, school principals, and district executive staff) should report on time. All other staff are on an optional workday with a 2-hour delay.  If road conditions in your area prevent you from traveling at that time, please make contact with your school principal or supervisor to make arrangements.Read More →

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American Prospect, a non-profit website specializing in non-profit, independent journalism, has posted an article that is highly critical of GateHouse Media and explains much of what is going on at many of its properties, including the New Bern Sun Journal. The headline states: Saving the Free Press From Private Equity Navigating the digital transition is a huge challenge for newspapers. Absentee ownership by private equity predators makes it all but impossible.   It’s a long read, but it does a good job describing the toxic nature of private equity enterprises taking over local newspapers and running them into the ground. Here’s one example cited in the articleRead More →

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In: Aldermen, Board of Aldermen, Craven County Board of Commissioners, Mayor, New Bern, New Bern business and commerce, New Bern Fire Department
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First off, the obvious Things are getting back to normal now that the holidays are behind us. Just kidding. With snow and ice blanketing the region, it’s like having an extra week off for the Christmas break. Schools have been closed since Wednesday. So much of New Bern was shut down on Thursday, it nearly felt like Christmas Day. Though we were well supplied with food, cabin fever drove us from the house and we thank the folks at Sonic and Piggly Wiggly for braving the weather and serving our needs. Other businesses were open, too … these are just the two we happened toRead More →

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January 9, 2018 Agenda and Explanations  1.   Meeting opened by Mayor Dana E. Outlaw.  Prayer Coordinated by Alderman Bengel.  Pledge of Allegiance. 2.   Roll Call. 3.   Request and Petition of Citizens. This section of the Agenda is titled Requests and Petitions of Citizens.  This is an opportunity for public comment, and we thank you for coming to the Board of Aldermen meeting tonight to share your views.  We value all citizen input. Speaker comments are limited to a maximum of 4 minutes during the public comment period.  At the conclusion of 4 minutes, each speaker shall leave the podium.  Comments will be directed to theRead More →

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The National Weather Service is calling for a significant snow event for this area beginning around noon tomorrow, Wednesday, Jan. 3. Because of the changing in timing predicted by the National Weather Service over the last 24 hours as well as uncertainty related to freezing rain versus snow to begin the weather, Craven County Schools will be closed for students Wednesday out of an abundance of caution. Staff will report for a half day. School district officials will continue to monitor the weather and road conditions and share any updates regarding possible closings and/or delays for the rest of the week.Read More →