Look At Chowan
Joe Vaughan, a member of the
editorial staff of the Parker Bros.,
publishing stable over in Ahoskie,
recently did a three-part series on
action and reaction to one of the
greatest assets along the Public
Parade —the Chowan River.
We happened to be on his in
terview list and attempted to ‘.‘tell
it like it is” regarding local feeling
concerning his subject.
The series ended last week and
we found it extremely refreshing
to have an “investigative”
reporter be so objective. It just
hardly ain’t done that way any
more.
We found the information
gathered and written by Mr.
Vaughan so informative that we
told Joe Parker it was good
enough to circulate to the sub
scribers along the Public Parade.
With that credit applied, we begin
the series in this week’s
newspaper.
;
A General Policy'
From time to time we are asked
by friend and foe why we do not
research and comment on matters
pertaining to state and federal
government. Frankly, we think
those who meander along the
Public Parade get sufficient ex
pose from either and-or the boob
tube or the gliberal press.
We do have opinions, generally
reduced to local participation on
the impact or issues on the local
citizenry. It is certainly not
because we are attempting to
“snooker” you or keep from you
information which we feel you
should know. It is just that running
a “family” or “community”
newspaper requires different
policies and standards than those
of newspapers with wider cir
culation.
As a publisher, we welcome
your comments good and bad.
We do not obligate ourselves to be
offended by what we do which is
bad, nor do we get the swell head
about what, if the occasion
arrises, we do something good for
the community
It is our opinion that every
question, etc., should stand on it’s
own bottom. If a fairer test is
available we welcome it. Our
general policy is not set in con
crete, as some would lead you to
believe.
If you like us, we will not get the
swell-head, if you don’t like, us we
won’t have a chip on our shoulder.
Fairness, to which we are not only
obligated but dedicated, doesn’t
work that way.
Get Aquarium Open
The bureaucracy is a vehicle
which, unlike automobiles, has the
capacity to travel sideways as
well as backward and forward.
And in most cases it operates ever
so quietly. And in many cases the
pollution discharged is greater
Continued On Page 4
tHaRPy*
*fl fv
*— -V .r - 1 -i •; . jp
: -'HH^^QPBS-HS -H H^JSSpS
CHOWAN RIVER SHE’S STILL A ‘LADY’ The Chowan River widens its banks to ap
proximately two and a half miles west near Edenton before it empties into the Albemarle Sound.
Though people living near the river feel the constant threat of water pollution there, state officials
the body erf water is in good condition and is one of the most closely monitored rivers in the state.
(Photo by Joe Vaughan and courtesy The Ahoskie Herald.)
Blood mobile Monday At Edenton Baptist Church Fellowship Hall
12:00 Noon Til 6: P. M. Quota 175 Pints
Wm A Mm IFAcaiaw? J
fBiW! >5 .jF i
V IMb --y. d '
mm 1
SIDEWALK CONFERENCE Dist. Atty. Tom Watts of Elizabeth City, center, conducts
a sidewalk conference with two local attorneys, Merrill Evans, Jr., left, and John Morehead,
outside the Chowan County Courthouse. There is no suitable place in the historic courthouse
for attorneys to confer with clients and they have been known to stand in the rain on East
King Street to discuss cases. Jurors have also had to go outside while a motion before the
court was argued.
THE CHOWAN HERALD
Volume XLm.— No. 10.
Concerns Re-zoning
High Court Accepts Suit
A rezoning action by Town
Council which plaintiffs claim
“has split the Town of Edenton
wide open” is now before the N. C.
Supreme Court. The state’s
highest court Monday agreed to
review a decision by the Court of
Appeals which approved the
rezoning of one tract on Highway
32 while denying the town’s action
on a second parcel. -
The sites in question are
Joint Meeting
The Albemarle Area
Development Association and the
Association of Counties and Towns
will meet jointly tonight (Thurs
day) at Angler’s Cove Restaurant
near Hertford. The meeting begins
at 7 P.M.
The announcement was made by
R.L. Stevenson and Mayor Bill
Cox, presidents of the respective
organizations.
The purpose of the meeting is to
discuss highway needs in the
region, such as improvement of
the priority rating and emphasis
on early construction.
Area legislators and highway
officials are expected to attend.
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, March 10, 1977
generally known as the Ward
Property at the apex of Highway
32 and U. S. 17 by-pass, which is
now under construction.
After the Court of Appeals ap
proved the .action of Judge Elbert
Peel, Jr., in Chowan County
Superior Court, to rezone from R
-20 to CH (highway commercial)
the section known as the North
Tract at the time of a Zoning
Ordinance update, N.J. George
and others petitioned the state’s
highest court to review the
decision. At the same time the
Court of Appeals reversed Judge
Peel on his action to affirm
rezoning the South Tract from R
-20 to Shopping Center because of a
technical error with regards to
River Pollution Discussed
By Joe Vaughan
(First In A Series)
AHOSKlE—Fingers of blacktop
and dirt roads intrude upon her
privacy and touch her in places
roadmaps fear. Still the Chowan
River remains a lady.
From her Virginia birth where
the headwaters of the Nottoway
and Blackwater rivers unite to the
Single Copies 15 Cents.
legal requirement of notice prior
to action.
Both the Town of Edenton and
the plaintiffs will be allowed to file
additional briefs and argue before
■fne Supreme Court. A decision is
not expected before August,
some two years after the proposed
owners, W.J.P. Earnhardt, Jr.,
and Bernard P. Burroughs
petitioned for rezoning property of
Mrs. Rosa F. Ward.
In their petition for
discretionary review of the
decision of the Court of Appeals,
the plaintiffs claim the minutes of
the council’s minutes of August
12, 1975, “were either changed or
misrepresented to reflect
Continued On Page 4
Albemarle Sound, the Chowan
River remains the mistress of
Hertford, Gates, Chowan and
Bertie counties.
According to some area people,
it is her peaceful, slowmoving
nature with the characteristics of
a lake that has almost caused her
ruin.
Unlike more rapid waterways,
pollutants remain in the Chowan
River longer. This has resulted in
massive algae blooms, threats to
commercial fishermen and water
sportsmen and poorwater quality
in the past.
CF Industries Inc. complex at
Tunis, a fertilizer producer fined
on two occassions for release of
algae stimulating nitrogen in the
river, is held as a primary polluter
by many locals.
Still others blame the Union-
Camp paper mill on the Black
water at Franklin, Va., for some
past and present pollution. There
is also sentiment that all the 21
waste discharge points in Virginia
and the five in North Carolina
share responsibility for pollution of
the Chowan Riven
Even Nature has been cited for
some of the river’s recent
problems. According to the N. C.
Division of Environmental
Management, slight additions of
either nitrogen or phorphorous
can produce large “Green Tides”
of algae in the river.
Some commercial fishermen
say unusually cool springs have
perhaps limited their annual haul
of fish as much as water pollution.
Continued On Page 4
Subdivision
Not Required
To Hook-Up
The Chowan County com
missioners rescinded a motion
made February ll to require
landowners in the Welch Tract
subdivision to hook up to the
Chowan County Water System. At
the same time commissioners
gave final plat approval to the sub
division, allowing land sales to
proceed there.
The legality of the February
action was brought before the
commission by Judd Little, county
planner, who had quite a time of
explaining why the motion was not
correct.
According to Little, current sub
division laws do not allow the
county to require hook-up to the
water system. That end could only
be accomplished by requiring all
new construction in the county to
hook-up where a water line is
available.
The board was against such
action.
The commissioners ap
propriated $4,972 in anticipation of
approving extension of Little’s
contract as county planner.
Capt. A. M. Howard, president
of the Arrowhead Beach Property
Owners Association, was present
with a delegation seeking en
dorsement of a petition requesting
that about 11 miles of road in the
sub-division be turned over to the
state.
In passing the motion to support
the effort, chairman C. A. Phillips
complimented the association on a
fine job in preparing the ap
plication and supportive data. The
application and other documents
will be submitted to the DOT
district engineers office for study.
The commissioners amended
the budget S4OO in anticipation of a
$9,900 grant from the Albemarle
Continued On Page 4
[ f mm.
fc. k I
M ® m .W U
mks. - v ji
CHAIRMAN APPOINTED—Gary Anderson, right, has been
named chairman of the Chowan County Chapter, American Red
Cross succeeding W. T. Culpepper, 111, left. Allan Asbell, center,
chairs the Bloodmobile program.
Anderson Heads Red Cross
Gary Anderson. branch
manager of Atlantic Credit Corp.,
has been named chairman of the
Chowan County Chapter,
American Red Cross, it was
reported Tuesday.
He succeeds W. T. Culpepper,
111, who stated that Anderson was
selected on the basis of his con
tributions to the Red Cross in the
Sales Closed
The down the road sales effort
by Federal Crop Insurance
Fieldmen has been stopped for
1977. This became necessary
because of limited resources.
FCIC’s All-Risk Protection can
still be obtained from the FCIC
Office located in Ahoskie. “We do
not know how much longer this
will be possible,” a spokesman
stated.
Sales have been closed for all
farmers in all counties in some
states where known hazards exist.
Farmers interested in obtaining
FCIC’s All-Risk Investment
Protection in 1977 should contact
the nearest FCIC Office. 'Die of
fice for Chowan County is now
located in the Boyette Building,
209 West Main Street, in Ahoskie.
The telephone number is 332-4912.
’ " jj
CHAIRMAN—Dr. Clement
Lucas has been named
chairman of the steering
committee for the Governor’s
Conference on Quality of Life
of Our Senior Citizens, by Gov.
James B. Hunt. The an
nouncement was made
Monday. The first meeting of
the steering committee is
being held in Raleigh today
(Thursday). The conference is
slated for April 29-30 in the new
Raleigh Civic Center.
Need Funds
For Program
By Flynn Surratt
Continuing the occupational
education program in the Eden
ton-Chowan Schools will require
an appropriation of $89,920 from
local sources for school year 1977-
78 to match federal and state funds
totaling $153,106. Ken Stalls, oc
cupational education director, told
the board of education, Monday
night that this represents an in
crease in local funding of about 11
per cent.
Stalls reported that during the
past two months an evaluation of
the program has been underway.
He stated that while the scope of
Continued On Page 4
past. Anderson served as Blood
Chairman during 1976-77, a post
now held by Allan Asbell.
Anderson’s primary respon
sibilities will include supervision
of service to military families, the
disaster program, blood program,
and various fund raising projects
He will be coordinating the local
chapter’s first fund raising project
in two years, tentatively
scheduled for the first of April.
Anderson hopes to organize a
series of first aid classes for
businesses, industries, and in
terested individuals as well as
boating safety classes.
The Bloodmobile will be at the
Edenton Baptist Church Fellowhip
Hall Monday, he reported. The
quota is 175 units, the highest yet
established. During the last visit,
147 pints were collected on a quota
of 130, and response to the
program has reached an all time
high, it was stated.
“I’m looking forward to working
with all the people in Chowan
County, and I welcome any
questions, comments, or
suggestions,” Anderson
remarked.
He can be contacted during the
day at Atlantic Credit, 482-4461,
and at night at 482-2083.