Year in Review: 2008 in North Carolina

As 2009 unfolds, we leave behind the events of 2008: a huge fire in and around a rural refuge and a timeless symphonic drama recovering from one.

A renewed battle over a Navy landing field and hopes for jobs with a new aviation park in Elizabeth City.

There were the tragic deaths of two children in Manns Harbor. People agreed, then disagreed, on a beach driving compromise in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

A house became a star in a Hollywood movie, and folks on Hatteras Island played supporting roles.

Currituck County ushered in new leadership, and Chowan County tried to dig out of a budget mess.

Here is a look at some of the stories of 2008.

A wildfire ignited by lightning on June 1 charred more than 40,000 acres in and around Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge before it was completely contained more than two months later.

The so-called Evans Road fire spread rapidly in dry, windy conditions, consuming thick underbrush and woods in Hyde, Washington and Tyrrell counties and sending smoke as far as 60 miles away.

Smoke and ash traveled east across the Alligator River and Pamlico Sound to the Atlantic Ocean. Depending on the wind’s direction, smoke could be smelled around Hampton Roads and the Outer Banks. A heavy haze sometimes hung over the region, at times even obscuring the sun.

The fire, in a sparsely populated area about 50 miles west of Hatteras Island, smoldered in the rich subsurface peat deposits. All the hot spots were not declared extinguished until after Tropical Storm Hanna doused the region in September. The wildfire cost more than $18 million to fight.

 and earlier in 2008 …

In February, high winds blew a tree onto power lines in Camden County, sparking a wildfire that burned 2,300 acres over several weeks and sent dense smoke over U.S. 17 and into Hampton Roads.

Hatteras Island

After months of protests by beach driving proponents about potential closures in Cape Hatteras National Seashore, parties in a lawsuit over off-road-vehicle access reached a settlement in April.

Two environmental groups that had sued the National Park Service called the consent decree a fair compromise. It would protect nesting shorebirds and sea turtles while allowing ORV access, they said.

But Dare and Hyde counties and a coalition of beach driving groups, which had joined as defendants in the legal action, were surprised when they saw how much beach had to be closed during the height of the season. ORV users contended the closings hurt the economy and hindered access to the best fishing spots.

Legislation that would have overridden the court-approved agreement was introduced in Congress. The bill, however, didn’t make it out of last session. Beach driving proponents are reconsidering their options before the spring bird-nesting season.

When the Navy announced plans in January to build a practice airfield on one of five sites, including farmland in Camden and Gates counties, opposition from local governments and resident groups was swift and strong.

Camden and Currituck counties combined to hire legal, engineering and public relations help to oppose the Navy’s plans. Two weeks ago, the engineering firm of Withers & Ravenel finished an environmental study of the site, a core area of about 2,000 acres of Camden County farmland known as Hales Lake.

Unstable peat and muck soils about 5 feet deep make the area unsuitable for construction of a runway, the study said. The Navy’s plans include its own environmental study on all five sites.

The Duke University Environmental Law and Policy center will help Gates County conduct an environmental study there independent of the Navy process.

Three other sites chosen for study were in Virginia.

Chowan County

When the long time County Manager Cliff Copeland retired on June 16, his successor, Peter Rascoe, learned that more than

$20 million in cash reserves were nearly depleted. Revenue estimates for fiscal 2008- 09 had been overstated by about $4 million, in violation of state law.

The state’s Local Government Commission told the county to rework its budget or face the possibility of a state takeover.

To keep the county financially afloat, the tax rate shot up 9 cents.

County services were trimmed, raises and hiring were frozen, and Rascoe implemented departmental cuts.

Copeland said the reserve funds were borrowed internally and are still on the books as assets. He said the money would be paid back once the economy improved.

The state auditor’s office and the State Bureau of Investigation’s Financial Crimes Unit launched a preliminary investigation in August to determine whether there was any criminal wrongdoing.

The investigation continues.

And later in 2008 …

In December, Chowan County was added to a list of the state’s 40 most economically distressed counties. Unemployment edged up to 9 percent in October.

Manns Harbor

Kassamdra Rain Daniels, 19 months, and her sister Amariyah Lynn Daniels, 2½ , were discovered in late June in a neighbor’s car near their Manns Harbor home.

Police said they had been reported missing by their mother, Amy Lynn Cooper, 28, who had last seen them playing with their brother Kendrick, 4.

When police opened the unlocked Mercury Topaz, the toddlers were unresponsive. It was determined that temperatures in the vehicle had reached as high as 135 degrees.

Kassandra died shortly after she was found, and Amariyah died the next day. Kendrick was not injured.

The girls were buried the next week after a service at Free Grace Church of Christ in Manteo.

District Attorney Frank Parrish said he found no evidence of criminal behavior by Cooper.

In May, the worst tornado in Bertie County in 24 years traveled 25 miles, damaging 66 structures and seriously

injuring two people. Above, Victor Speller looks over the inside of the house where he and his mother, Benita, lived in

Lewistown-Woodville . The tornado tore part of the roof off and scattered debris from inside.

Hertford County

On Nov. 20, William Curtis Futrell, 34, of Franklin, Va., was charged in the killings of two elderly sisters two years earlier.

The bodies of Nellie Bradley, 71, and Dorothy Hobbs, 74, were found in 2006, outside Murfreesboro.

Futrell was arrested in Franklin . If convicted, he could face the death penalty. He told reporters as he walked from the jail to the courthouse for a hearing that he didn’t know what to say because he had nothing to do with the deaths.

On Aug. 4, 2006, a passer-by found the bodies of Bradley and Hobbs along a dirt road about a mile outside of Murfreesboro.

The sisters, who lived in Emporia, Va., had been stabbed.

Deputies found their missing car about 15 miles away in Southampton County with blood in the trunk.

Roanoke Island

As appalling as the destruction of 70 years of costumes – more than 5,000 items – was to “The Lost Colony,” the effort to replace them was inspiring. Support poured in from all parts of the country, validating the love people feel for the nation’s longest-running outdoor symphonic drama.

Tony Award-winning costumer William Ivey Long, the play’s production designer, went into high gear immediately after the Sept. 11 fire that destroyed the Irene Smart Rains Costume Shop and its contents. He rounded up industry help and called in favors from his Broadway contacts. The play’s executive director, Carl Curnutte, gathered donations from the community and former cast members. The National Park Service put construction of the new costume shop on a fast track.

But the fire, ruled accidental, ultimately brought together schoolchildren, audience members and others in giving what they could: jars of pennies and baskets of sewing supplies and hours spent stitching clothing together.

On opening night May 30, the audience was treated to a colorful display of new costumes that many lauded as the most beautiful ever.

Rodanthe

When Warner Bros. chose to shoot location footage for the movie version of Nicholas Sparks’ tear-jerker “Nights in Rodanthe” on the Outer Banks, thousands of residents seized the opportunity to get involved.

But one of the local stars was not even a person. It was the house in Rodanthe named Serendipity, which served as the setting for the exterior shots.

Before shooting began in May 2007, a spring storm created havoc at the house, delaying production for a few days. Then, in September 2008, another storm blew through, just when the long-awaited screening was being held at a Kill Devil Hills movie theater for Outer Bankers who participated in the production. Overwash on the road in Ocracoke and Hatteras islands prevented many who had been extras from getting to the theater.

The final twist was that the storm inflicted what may turn out to be a fatal blow on Serendipity, by now an attraction for curious tourists.

It is not yet clear whether the beachfront house will be able to be occupied again.

Elizabeth City

In October, construction began on a $13 million aviation business park on Consolidated Road next to the Elizabeth City Coast Guard base.

Expected to become a major economic engine for the region, the project could bring as many as 500 jobs over the next five years. State and federal grants combined with local money are funding the project.

Slated for completion later next year, the 63-acre first phase will include facilities for Elizabeth City State University’s aviation school and College of The Albemarle’s airframe certification program.

DRS Technologies plans to expand to the site and hire as many as 300 more employees.

Currituck County

In September, Currituck announced plans to build a $5.6 million wastewater treatment plant in Moyock that could help attract more industry to the north end of the county.

It would be the first large-scale public sewer system in the county. It would have a capacity of 100,000 gallons per day, and lines would follow N.C. 168 for about five miles from Guinea Road to Lazy Corner Road.

Initially, three new employers – an assisted-living facility, a real estate office and an apartment complex – offering a total of 78 new jobs are expected to connect. Construction is set to be finished in 2010.

A large public sewer system is expected to lessen the county’s dependence on tourism on the Outer Banks. The Chesapeake Expressway, public water and natural gas are already in place.

Four Republicans defeated Democrat opponents in the November election, expanding the Currituck County Board of Commissioners to seven for the first time, from five .

Incumbent Owen Etheridge was elected chairman, replacing Barry Nelms. Until November, Etheridge often voted alone against the other four commissioners. Relations between Etheridge and Nelms were strained.

Typically on the county level, personal interests and alliances affect decisions more than political affiliation.

New board members have already said a horse farm would be developed as a county equestrian park. The previous board nixed the plans.

Also, the new board is expected to support slower growth and make residential rezoning more difficult.

Chowan County

For the first time in more than a century, the Republican Party held a primary in May for the Chowan County Board of Commissioners.

In November’s general election, two Republicans won, including newcomer Eddy Goodwin, who later was chosen chairman.

Pasquotank County

In December, the county announced that all 250 of its employees would have to take one unpaid day off for each of the first four months of 2009 after tax revenues fell by more than $1 million.

Transfer taxes, fees charged forreal estate sales, had fallen from $2.5 million in 2007 to $1.4 million.

Employee days off will save $100,000. Budgets for public schools, College of The Albemarle and the Economic Development Commission will be cut by 2 percent, saving $245,722.

Two open positions will remain unfilled.

In all, the cuts totaled $763,000. Other cost-saving measures are expected later.

Elizabeth City

In October, the Elizabeth City Cotton Mill, one of the oldest businesses in town, closed after 113 years. At left, mill workers Floyd and Mary Rhodes were among those who lost their jobs.

Outer Banks

The Final environmental impact statement for the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge replacement was finished in October. The first phase of the project, valued at $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion , is expected to begin in early 2009, with completion by early 2014. The bridge spans Oregon Inlet.

Seve bridges along N.C. 12 on Ocracoke Island were replaced all at once, and the state Department of Transportation diverted traffic to three miles of shoreline for what is believed to be the first beach detour in its history. The $8 million project was finished in early March, 10 days ahead of schedule.

The 61-foot granite obelisk monument at Wright Brothers National Memorial was cleaned and restored.

For the first time in memory, limited numbers of the public were invited in June to climb the 70 steps to the top of the monument in Kill Devil Hills.

Edenton

Cupola House, called “one of the most distinctive and important dwellings of its period in the South” by historians, celebrated its 250th birthday.

Rocky Mount Police Department Sgt. Jay Fortenbery, above, was chosen in December to replace retiring Police Chief Greg Bonner.

Compiled by Catherine Kozak,  Jeff Hampton and Connie Sage