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Out (for now): Hotel and parking structure at Craven and Pollock   Policy wonks from the UNC School of Government are urging the City of New Bern to turn its attention from a possible parking structure and hotel across from City Hall, and return its attention to a vacant lot at the corner of Craven and South Front streets. UNC SoG special projects managers Marcia Perritt and Omar Kashef appeared before the Board of Aldermen on Tuesday to advise on behalf of the pivot. The Pollock and Craven parking structure/hotel SoG had been advocating has been put on hold while Craven County officials decide whether theyRead More →

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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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Note: This has been corrected since originally posted to reflect that there had never been more than two women on the board, not one. The glass ceiling was cracked, if not shattered, on Tuesday, as three women took their seats on a Board of Aldermen that had never had more than two female members throughout its existence.     And one of the first things the more feminine board did on Tuesday was vote unanimously to endorse the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1972, a proposed Equal Rights Amendment (“ERA”) to the Constitution passed both houses of the U.S. Congress and was sent to the statesRead More →

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Belk, the North Carolina-based retailer that relies so much on holiday receipts to meet investor expectations, got into some hot water over its decision to ban Salvation Army bell ringers, so much so that it has reversed course and decided bell ringers are welcome, after all. Here’s the Tweet that Belk sent out on Dec. 2: Belk‏Verified account @belk Dec 2 Christmas truly is the giving season and we’d like to welcome Salvation Army bell ringers to all 294 Belk stores. Merry Christmas!  Happy ending to a story that started badly for the retailer, which has a store at New Bern Mall. Belk was once a family-ownedRead More →

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In 1992, the same year Bill Clinton was elected to his first term as president, the City of New Bern installed a software system called Banner. It’s still in use today, even though the software developer got out of the municipal software business long ago and focuses on education institutional software now. Only one person among the 450 who work at New Bern City Hall knows how to maintain the Banner system, and the company that makes it will stop supporting the version the city uses in early 2018. The city’s aging software system has been a subject of conversation by city leaders for atRead More →

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This article is a stub while I wait to receive the news release from Billy Joiner. Meanwhile, here is his bio from the Town of Trent Woods website: Commissioner/Mayor Pro Tem “Resident for 39 years” Worked for Sprint for 37 years Married with 2 daughters, sons-in-law and 4 grandchildren Retired from the West of New Bern Volunteer Fire Department with 20 years Active member of Tabernacle Baptist Church Crossing Guard of Bangert Elementary School 20 years as a referee for youth basketball & umpire for youth baseball Serves on Town’s Citizens Emergency Response Team Shriner & Mason Serves on local Community Watch program Retired military E-8Read More →

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Sometime soon, when you call 911 in New Bern for an ambulance, the 911 dispatcher may ask a lot of questions that, in the heat of the moment, may seem beside the point. But the questions 911 dispatchers ask, and the answers they get in return, will save lives. New Bern’s 911 dispatchers are rolling out a system called “Emergency Medical Dispatch.” The system is a combination of software and training that allow 911 dispatchers to ask medically pertinent questions and then give medical advice about how to save that person’s life. The program was hatched in New Bern earlier this year, and in OctoberRead More →

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Saltwater Creek LLC, a real estate company that lists New Bern lawyer Kelly Greene as its manager, has put in a bid for $109,000 for long-vacant commercial building on Broad Street. The two-story office building is on a half acre lot at 509 Broad St. The Craven County tax office puts the building’s value at $310,000. The building, constructed in 1950, was once the location for Craven County Council on Aging and more recently the Craven County Probation Office. The building has been vacant for years. At one point there was a plan to turn the building into a business incubator and work was started.Read More →

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Paid parking on Broad Street won’t be among the recommendations an advisory committee brings to the Board of Aldermen at its Nov. 21 meeting. The Downtown Parking Advisory Committee also decided not to meddle with current parking rules on Broad Street, New Street, Hancock Street and Metcalf Street. Both proposals were among several contained in a draft list of recommendations that came before the committee on Tuesday. The committee will finalize its plan on Tuesday, Nov. 14, before bringing its recommendations to the Board of Aldermen on Tuesday, Nov. 21. The committee will likely proceed with its recommendation to start enforcing 2-hour parking limits inRead More →

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Lots of folks in downtown New Bern think they dodged a bullet when a downtown parking advisory committee leaned against recommending paid parking throughout downtown. Except along Broad Street. Folks there are still at the shooty-shooty end of the barrel. The committee will probably recommend that the city start enforcing the two-hour parking limit downtown. But anticipating an exodus of cars to nearby unregulated streets starting with Broad Street, the committee came up with the idea of installing paid parking kiosks charging a dollar an hour on Broad Street from the traffic circle to Middle Street. Parking would be free on nights, weekends, holidays andRead More →