This week on the Down East Journal, we begin our "Beyond Binary" series on underrepresented people segments in Eastern North Carolina who fall outside traditional socio-political distinctions. Unaffiliated voters are a rapidly growing demographic in eastern North Carolina and, potentially, a key factor in this year's national and state races. And, as the first piling of the Bonner Bridge was installed, NCDOT got the green light to move forward with another bridge replacement . We detail the NC12 bridge project just down the road at Rodanthe.