PANTEGO, N.C., Aug.

By Matt Ehlers, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C. Aug. 3--ENGELHARD -- It's a long commute for Sally Messick every week, making the four-hour drive from her home outside Pittsboro to Engelhard in Hyde County on the coast. As a family nurse practitioner, she could find work closer to home.

By CATHERINE KOZAK By Catherine Kozak The Virginian-Pilot Mundane as it is, trash has become an emotional issue on Ocracoke Island, where a proposal to "pay as you throw" is raising a stink with villagers.

By Jerry Allegood, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C. May 29--SWAN QUARTER -- Like waterlogged New Orleans, the tiny village of Swan Quarter is counting on a new dike to keep water out during the next big storm.