The Outer Banks Sentinel"Town of Nags Head donates cash and vehicles for Katrina relief"

The Town of Nags Head has donated $10,000 and two surplus police vehicles to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

The Nags Head Board of Commissioners, at their Wednesday, Sept. 7, meeting, approved the donation of $5,000 to the Salvation Army and $5,000 to the Red Cross to aid hurricane victims. "We feel a certain kinship with the people of the Gulf Coast as they understand what living and working in a coastal community truly means - warm coastal breezes and friendly smiles on neighbor's faces. Unfortunately, we also understand there is a possibility for damaging storms," said Nags Head Mayor Robert W. Muller. "It is important to show support for our coastal neighbors as they work to recover from Hurricane Katrina."

In a separate action at the same meeting, the Board approved the donation of two police vehicles scheduled for surplus to the relief effort. On Thursday, Sept. 29, Nags Head police officers delivered the vehicles to the City of Bayou La Batre, Alabama, a small fishing community located off the Gulf of Mexico. Heavily damaged last year during Hurricane Ivan, Bayou La Batre suffered significant flooding in Hurricane Katrina after a 20-30 foot sea wall surged through the area. Bayou's police department, still working out of a trailer due to Hurricane Ivan damage, lost two vehicles to the recent storm.

Easterns searching new home

One of many youth in the Eastern Surfing Association's Eastern Surfing Championships exits the water after a heat. Pressing regulations at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Jetty in Buxton could result in the event being moved in the near future. Owen Hassell photo
One surfing tournament has been what the Eastern Surfing Association is all about: the Eastern Surfing Championships.

It is the best of the best, and in the last 38 years, the best amateurs on the East Coast have come to Buxton on Hatteras Island to compete.

As the ESA has grown, it could also mean the competition will not reach 40 years on the island.

The organization uses National Park Service property at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Jetty, and it comes with restrictions, including most notably no signage or commericalism.

"It's ultra-restrictive, and I don't think it's fair, and none of our 7,000 members think it's fair," ESA Competition Director Brian Broom said. "So are we looking for another site, you bet."