THE CHOWAN HERALD
Vol. XIVI - No. 8
Call For Tough Action Gets Cool Response
ROANOKE RAPIDS - North
Carolina’s top environmental
officials Tuesday called on their
counterparts in Virginia to get
tough in increasing action to clean
up the Chowan River.
While the action was not greeted
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WORK ON CHOWAN RIVER PROJECT Officials from
North Carolina and Virginia met in Roanoke Rapids Tuesday to
discuss clean up procedures for the Chowan River. Seated at left
are Dr. Frank Humenik of N. C. State University and Capt. A1
Howard of Chowan County. Standing is Dr. Bob Holman of
Edenton. Above right is Charles Creighton of Edenton, im
Focus On Coast
President Jimmy Carter has
designated 1980 as the “Year of
the Coast” in America. Gov. Jim
Hunt is bringing the Tar Heel
State into the mainstream by
focusing in with the same em
phasis.
During the current year at
tention will be zeroed in on
programs that significantly affect
coastal resources.
For the past five years there has
been a lot of attention drawn to our
fragile coastal area via im
plementation of the Coastal
Management Act of 1974. The
Coastal Resources Commission
has recently been put to the test
with regards to certain policies for
building on coastal waters. In each
case the members have stuck to
their guns and a better develop
ment program will come forth.
The Coastal Management Act
got tagged early on as a “no
development” act. This certainly
not the case; but a sensible
development program can be
worked for the betterment of all
the people in the state and nation.
In late August, 1979, President
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NEW VARIETY STORE - A new T.G.&Y. family variety store
is slated to open in June at Edenton Village Shopping Center,
according to 0. E. Bates, division vice president of T.G.&Y.
Stores Co., an Oklahoma based firm. The 40,000 square foot
facility will be located near the juntion of Coke Avenue and U.S.
17.
with a warm reception, Dr. Neil S.
Grigg, assistant secretary of the
N. C. Department of Natural
Resources and Community
Development, got a positive
response to points which will keep
the Chowan Technical Panel
Curriculum Development Begun
Curriculum for the proposed
Tri-County Career Education
Center is being developed in a two
day meeting currently being held
at the Perquimans County Office
Building in Hertford. School
superintendents, principals,
parents, teachers and staff
members will be working through
this afternoon, lead by Dr. Jack
Owenby, a consultant with the
Southeastern Regional Agency of
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
From the sessions will come
information to be used in drafting
a floor plan for the career center.
T.G. & Y. Construction Set
O. E. Bates, division vice
president of T. G. & Y. Stores Co.,
the Oklahoma based national
chain of variety and- general
merchandise stores, announced
today plans for a new 40,000
square foot family center to open
in June, 1980, to be located at the
southeast corner of the junction of
U.S. Highway 17 and Coke Avenue.
Bates stated that the new T. G. &
Y. store is expected to employ
about 40 local residents when it
opens for business.
T. G. & Y. Stores Co. was
founded in 1936 by R. E.
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, February 21, 1980
exchanging information regarding
the best way to halt massive algae
blooms in the river,
the river.
R. V. Davis, executive
secretary, Virginia Water Control
Board, told a reporter after the
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mediate past president of Chowan-Edenton Chamber of Com
merce with R. V. Davis of Richmond, Va., and Dr. Neil S. Grigg
of Raleigh. Alan Klimek, far right, is shown with other local
representatives at the meeting. Left to right are: W. B. Gardner,
J. D. Peele, Cliff Copeland and W. E. Smith.
Once that work has been com
pleted, the acreage necessary for
the center will be determined.
Kenneth L. Stalls, director of the
Tri-County Career Center
feasibility study, said it is hoped
these studies will be completed by
March 1, so the steering com
mittee, acting as a site location
committee, can begin in
vestigating potential building sites
by mid-March.
According to Stalls, this week’s
meeting is a major undertaking of
Phase II of the project. Phase I,
the initial feasibility study, was
Tomlinson, E. L. Gosselin and
R. A. Young, who gave the initials
of their last names to the name of
the company. It has always had
its national headquarters in Okla
homa City, during its growth to
a major chain with over 900 stores
coast-to-coast in 29 states.
Sales for 1977 reached the billion
dollar mark, enabling T. G. & Y. to
become the 13th retailing
billionnaire of the United States.
This goal was attained in only 41
years, the shortest period in
retailing for such an achievement.
T. G. & Y. stores are of three
classes: one is the expanded
variety store, primarily con
venience merchandise ranging to
about 15,000 square feet and
carrying limited junior depart
ment store lines; secondly, the
family center unit ranging from
20,000 to 30,000 square feet;
thirdly, the larger family center
unit ranging from 40,000 to 80,000
square feet. Depending upon the
size of these family center units,
they go heavily into sporting
goods, hardware, wearables,
fabrics, automotive lines and
several other departments,
considering the needs of the
community. Some of them may
include an auto center, pharmacy,
or outdoor garden and lawn sales.
J. M. Newgent, president of the
company, stated, “We know that
the economy of Edenton is ex
cellent and that its future
prospects are good. We want to be
part of the progress of Edenton.”
meeting that he did not see the
urgency in his state beefing up
regulations which limit nitrogen
discharges to the river.
Earlier, Dr. Grigg stated most
emphatically that North Carolina,
led by Gov. Jim Hunt and Sec.
completed in October. Phase II
will end on September 30.
Attorneys in Chowan,
Perquimans and Gates counties
are currently studying a draft of
the proposed papers of in
corporation this week. Once any
legal questions concerning cor
porate structure are resolved, the
papers will be filed with the N. C.
secretary of state, Stalls reported.
Stalls told the steering com
mittee at a meeting Monday,
February 11, they had been ap
proached to try for a handicapped
and placement grant for a project
being initiated by a professor at
UNC-CH.
He said a proposal had been
written and submitted and some
word concerning it could be ex
pected by around April 15.
Stalls also reported that new
vocational money will probably
become available through a CETA
project, and that those funds will
be designated for use with
students in school, rather than
with drop-out programs.
He noted that some eleven
primary funding agencies had
been identified and that steps will
be taken to secure their
assistance.
Stalls learned that use of Coastal
Plains Regional Commission
funds for construction must be
matched, and that matching
dollars must be identified. Further
implications of the stipulation are
not yet known, he said.
Rescheduled
The northeastern pork con
ference, which was canceled due
to snow, has been rescheduled for
February 28th. The conference
will be held at the American
Legion Building on the Chowan
County Fair Grounds, Edenton.
Registration begins at 9:30 A.M.
and the program starts at 10 A.M.
This meeting is sponsored by the
N. C. Agricultural Extension
Service and the Albemarle Feeder
Pig Coop.
All pork producers in north
eastern North Carolina are
invited to attend.
Howard Lee, was taking a “get
tough” policy in regards to the
river. “We are committed to a
project which will restore the
Chowan River to its beautiful state
before the algae blooms.”
Dr. Grigg was quick to say the
project could not be implemented
overnight. “Because of the
complexity of the problem,” he
continued, “it is going to take the
full attention of the best minds
both in the government as well as
lay leaders who have a vested
interest in the river.”
Dr. Grigg also said a Chowan
Regional Task Force was being
drawn together by Sec. Lee and
would include representatives
from all the counties boardering
on the Chowan or Albemarle
Sound. Seven members of this
group from Chowan County were
in attendance at the five hour
Rural Store Owner
Beaten And Robbed
Two suspects are being held in
Albemarle District Jail in lieu of
$30,000 bond in the robbery and
beating of a rural grocery store
owner on Friday.
Mrs. Eula Mae Watson, owner
and operator of B&R Grocery,
located on N. C. 32 about 10 miles
from Edenton, phoned Deputy
Pam Byrum at 1:08 P.M. to report
the robbery. Less than an hour
later, Chief Deputy Glenn Perry
had two suspects in custody and a
trail dog provided by Police Chief
D. M. Morgan of Colerain was on
the scent of evidence stashed in
the woods off 5R1315, Mavaton
Road.
According to Deputy Melvin
Evans, Mrs. Watson was treated
at Chowan Hospital for a con
cussion, facial bruises and a
swollen hand before she returned
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ROBBERY VICTIM —• Mrs. Eula Mae Watson, still showing
signs of a brutal beating received during a robbery on Friday, is
shown in B&R Grocery where the crime took place. Quick action
by law enforcement personnel from both Chowan and Bertie
counties resulted in the arrest of two black men less than an hour
after the incident. Mrs. Watson was treated for a concussion,
facial bruises and injured hand at Chowan Hospital.
Funds To Cover Deficit
Chowan County commissioners
went through the formality
Monday morning on revenue
sharing funds and heard
presentations by three firms
seeking a contract to do
revaluation work.
Following the hearing, com
missioners voted to use SIB,OOO in
revenue sharing funds to cover a
deficit in the courthouse-detention
facility budget.
Chowan County will revalue in
1982 and a contract is expected to
be awarded in the not two distant
future.
Cliff Copeland, county manager,
estimated that a saving of between
$70,000 and SBO,OOO could be
realized if the work could be put on
a computer. However, board
members were in unison in em
phasizing that the county needs to
get the best possible contract.
Chairman C. A. Phillips joked
Single Copies 20 Cents
meeting. They were: Capt. A1
Howard, W. B. Gardner, W. E.
Smith, J. D. Peele, Cliff Copeland,
Charles Creighton and L. F.
Amburn, Jr.
Peele, a Chowan County com
missioner and fisherman,
suggested that Union Camp move
its discharge from December
through March to a fall discharge
which would not affect recreation
on the river as well as allow time
for the herring runs.
He said this would be better than
no dumping at all, which he ad
vocated.
While Davis was cool to most of
the suggestions put forth by the
North Carolina spokesmen, he did
say it is important to have a free
exchange of information “so we
can arrive at the same solution at
an early date.” Then he said: “We
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home.
Evans had been passing
Valhalla, headed toward Edenton,
when the call for help was made.
He turned around and went back
to the store to investigate.
According to reports, Mrs.
Watson was alone in the store
when two black men entered at
about 12:45 P.M. One man bought
a drink while another milled
around a candy rack behind her.
Asked if she could help them, the
other man grabbed her from
behind and threatened her with a
butcher knife held at her throat.
They left with about SI2OO after
both beat her, made her empty the
cash drawer and took her wallet
from her purse.
Both men had left by the time
she regained consciousness and
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during the meeting about public
reaction to revaluation. “I don’t
know of any group getting a
petition to praise us for
revaluation,” he said.
Commissioner George Jones
said many times revaluation is
misunderstood. “If the valuation
goes up,” he said, “the tax rate
will be adjusted to cover it.”
Commissioner Alton G. Elmore,
who has been involved with a
computer project of the Alliance
For Progress, said having work
done by computer would allow
more frequent check of values and
keep proper equalization.
Dallas Jethro, county tax
supervisor, urged the board “not
to save a dollar and get something
less than what is desired."
The first presentation, by Bill
Allen of Allen Appraiser, had
some questions about the
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