GateHouse Media, owner of the Sun Journal of New Bern as well as newspapers in Kinston, Havelock, Marine Air Station Cherry Point, Camp Lejeune, Trenton, and Jacksonville, is offering buyouts in an attempt to further trim its payroll. GateHouse is seeking volunteers to accept a buyout package that offers six days pay for each year of employment. The cut takes effect on Sept. 7. Employees must decide by today, Aug. 27. Between Kinston and New Bern, staff has gone from a total of more than 30 a decade ago, to 11 now, with perhaps more cuts in the offing. The Post is aware of more than aRead More →

  The U.S. Forest Service called a 120-day halt to target shooting throughout Croatan National Forest on July 13, 2015. Then that restriction was extended, so it remains in place today, more than three years later. That hasn’t prevented do-it-yourself shooting ranges from continuing to riddle the landscape and pose a public safety hazard throughout the 160,000-acre public forest near New Bern. The illicit form of recreation often leaves damaged trees and plant life in its wake. And garbage. Lots of garbage. Everything from bullet-pocked refrigerators and propane tanks to beer bottles and auto parts. The rubbish and bullet holes have left a scar onRead More →

GateHouse Media, the company that owns the New Bern Sun Journal, is closing the pressroom where the Sun Journal is printed and shifting printing to Fayetteville. According to Mike McHugh, a Jacksonville Daily News reporter who resigned on Tuesday in protest of the cuts, closing the pressroom as well as a call center based in Jacksonville will cost 40 people their jobs. There was no response to an email requesting more information and comment from Mike Distelhorst, the GateHouse regional publisher in charge of newspapers in Jacksonville, New Bern, Kinston, and Wilmington. The newspaper industry has been struggling for years due to increased competition onlineRead More →

OK, it’s New Bern. Here’s what the venerable magazine says: New Bern, the adopted hometown of famed romance author, Nicholas Sparks, was settled by a Swiss baron three centuries ago. The town is full of history throughout its walkable downtown full of tree-shaded homes, centuries-old churches, and historic cemeteries. Make time for a visit to Tryon Palace, a historic site surrounded by gardens, and embark on a cruise of the Neuse and Trent rivers. Don’t miss the most iconic book set in every state. Here’s the link.Read More →

Second Eddie Ellis presentation added The New Bern Historical Society is pleased to offer a second presentation of Tales of Espionage in Civil War Craven County featuring historian and author Eddie Ellis, on Aug. 16 at 6:30 p.m. in the Cullman Performance Hall at the North Carolina History Center.  Tickets are $10 and are available at 252-638-8558 or www.NewBernHistorical.com/tickets. In eastern North Carolina during the Civil War, Union occupiers existed alongside Southern civilians. Military leaders struggled to capture territory, railroads, waterways.  One of the most sought-after commodities was information.  Ellis explains, “The Burnside-created enclave of coastal forts strung from New Bern to Fort Macon wasRead More →

Editor: Inspired by the limerick “Sally” in the film series “The Crown” — with apologies to the Brits. John Phaup, New Bern Behold our Lord Donald the Rex Who believes only what he can text Tho plenty of navel to gaze (And much to our on-line dismays) He keeps his head up his glorious Apps.Read More →

Editor: I read a letter regarding New Bern’s utility department (Sun-Journal, June 15) with keen interest. The letter reminded  me of those written by Billy Smith a few years ago.  Smith, an avid preservationist and lover of New Bern, felt the city’s  alder men and women’s ability to do anything right ranked below John Kennedy’s Bay of Pigs committee.  May I offer a response to the points raised in the recent letter.   The reward the city provides utility users who pay on time is negative — that is the shiny truck does NOT show up to shut off your meter — as it does for non-payment.   But the ideaRead More →

The improv comedy group Walk-In Bathtub will make its first appearance on the New Bern Civic Theater stage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 28. Offering a raucous combination of games inspired by audience suggestions, Walk-In Bathtub’s performances are reminiscent of the popular TV show “Who’s Line is it Anyway?” Team members must create scenes and act out suggestions from the audience without the help of a script, which often leads to hilarious and unexpected results. Walk-In Bathtub made its first performance at City Stage–formerly Live at the City Laundry–last fall and has grown in popularity ever since. Saturday marks the group’s first performance at theRead More →

The city inched forward in a process that could lead to an 80-unit apartment complex off Carolina Avenue that would house some Trent Court residents to enable the New Bern Housing Authority to begin razing and replacing buildings in Trent Court. The Housing Authority has offered $200,000 for an 8-acre parcel off Carolina Avenue, which is off Trent Road. Aldermen voted 6-1 to have the parcel appraised, a non-committal way of keeping the concept alive without actually approving it. Baby steps … baby steps. The motion was made by Ward 6 Alderman Jeffrey Odham and seconded by Ward 3 Alderman Bobby Aster. What’s interesting aboutRead More →

As school begins, school supply lists are made available to students and parents, but not all students are able to arrive the first day of school with the items required to put them on the road to success; some parents simply can’t afford to purchase the items needed. To assist those students, Partners In Education (PIE), in partnership with Craven County Schools, will have bright yellow school buses and colorful totes set up in front of the three Walmart stores in Craven County on August 25, 2018, from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm (New Bern – 3105 Dr. M.L. King, Jr., Blvd. and 2915 NeuseRead More →