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Before and after photos show impacts on Trent Road from the New Bern Marketplace shopping center construction. The photo on the left was taken several years ago. The photo on the right was taken on Wednesday. City officials are revising design standards for the Trent Road Corridor “to accurately reflect the development pattern” that has emerged on that stretch of city street. Changes were approved by the Planning and Zoning Board at its meeting on Tuesday and will come before the Board of Aldermen for final approval. Changes include: Removing a requirement that buildings maintain a front yard setback of 35-50 feet from the streetRead More →

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Michael Stephens, a Riverside Neighborhood resident, plans to open an outdoor recreation facility on Beech Street off Oaks Road following approval by the city to rezone the property from residential and light industrial to commercial. Stephens has combined two lots, 107 and 109 Beech St., which have access to Jack Smith Creek near its mouth with the Neuse River. The resulting 1.14 acres would be used for a venture he is calling Oaks Watersport Landing: The Owl. “The property will be used for recreational outdoor activities and small indoor and outdoor events,” Stephens said in a written report to the city. “It will allow opportunities forRead More →

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The late Steve Jobs is often touted as one of the great innovators of the age, but his real genius was in taking ideas from others, tweaking them, and selling them. Jobs didn’t invent the computer mouse, smart phone or the MP3 player, for example; others came up with those ideas, but his tweaks changed everything. Taking cues from Steve Jobs, the City of New Bern has gone into he business of taking others ideas, as well. For example, take the Farmer’s Market. For $1 per year, the Farmers Market was leasing city-owned land at South Front and Hancock streets coveted by developers. Everyone wasRead More →

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For companion story, click here City Market is a triangular piece of property, with the Ghent neighborhood on one side, a mixed residential-commercial street on one side, and Country Club Road/First Street on the remaining side. City Hall is giving that section of the city a lot of love and attention recently. Lawson Creek Park is right there and has benefited from a lot of improvements: a reconfigured and beautified entrance, a ball field, and more. The city moved its Parks and Recreation offices to a building off Country Club Road, and is seeking funding to improve boat access there. And it has worked withRead More →

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Photo: The city has a lot of properties for sale: 92 are listed on the city’s website. Of those, more than 70 are located in the Greater Duffyfield area. (City of New Bern map)   It’s an unrelenting list of failed dreams: Greater Duffyfield homes and buildings in disrepair, ordered torn down by the city and later sold off at dimes on the dollar. It’s a tragedy on a personal scale for the families who are losing their properties, but in the broader picture, it’s costing taxpayers money — a lot of it. Just this week, buildings facing city-ordered demolition were put to votes byRead More →

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Updated Feb. 28 Election filings for offices in Craven County or including Craven County. The filing period began Feb. 12 and ended noon, Feb. 28. The primaries will be held May 8. Listed by office and then alphabetically. * Incumbents   Craven County Board of Commissioners District 1 Greg Holt, New Bern, Republican Tom Mark, Fairfield Harbour, Republican* Jeff O’Neill, Vanceboro, Democrat (unopposed in primary)   Craven County Board of Commissioners District 2 Jason Jones, Cove City, Democrat* Unopposed   Craven County Board of Commissioners District 3 Johnnie Sampson, Jr. New Bern, Democrat* Unopposed   Craven County Board of Commissioners District 4  Billy Joiner, Trent Woods, RepublicanRead More →

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The Craven County Board of Education approved Deborah Langhans as the new chief academic officer (formerly assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction) for Craven County Schools. Under the direction of the superintendent, Langhans leads and facilitates the administration of curriculum development, instructional programs and services, and teacher and leadership development for the school system. She will supervise elementary, middle, and high school curriculum, programming, and instructional staff, Career and Technical Education, Federal programs/projects, Exceptional Children, English as a Second Language, and Early Childhood education. The Chief Academic Officer provides administrative and strategic leadership in collaboration with all district executive staff and school leaders. Langhans has worked in the district for 29 years.Read More →

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The American Red Cross is holding several blood drives in this area in response to an urgent need for blood donations. Red Cross Blood Drives are being held Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at different locations in the New Bern area. Go here to find a day and location that is convenient for you. According to a news release, CarolinaEast Medical Center is over 600 units short of blood due to disasters, shootings, etc. Register on line for a faster donation time and shorter wait time.Read More →

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Winnie Smith and Lindsay Sims, daughters of the late Greg Smith, have taken over the running of Mitchell Hardware. Greg Smith died suddenly on the morning of Jan. 29 while working at his store. A story by the ever-excellent Bill Hand at the Sun Journal here. *** Shoe Carnival, a discount shoe store at Rivertowne Square (you know, the one with Books A Million on one end and Wal-Mart Supercenter on the other), is closing. A source with the company said the New Bern store was under-performing, and faced with the prospect of competition from Rack Room and Academy Sports at the New Bern MarketplaceRead More →

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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 →