Continued From Page 1
On the same level, agricultural -
related businesses and industries
are either cutting back or closing
outright. This is a good place for
people to begin to stop and think.
Instead of adding to the problem,
we must think about what con
tribution we can make, however
meager, to improve the situation.
Also, those fortunate to have
secure jobs in perilous times must
demonstrate their appreciation by
caring for and sharing with those
less fortunate.
The unemployment rate along
the Public Parade, as reported
elsewhere in today’s newspaper, is
higher than the statewide
average. The predictions of it
getting even worse is even more
frightening. But there are those
who shroud themselves with good
intent but thrive on taking ad
vantage of the less fortunate. Here
is where those who think only to
the limits of their capacity must
bow up to the task.
Os even greater concern for
those who care and share is the
fact that Northeastern North
Carolina has unemployment
nearly double the state average.
Tyrrell County, for example, had a
12.5 per cent unemployment rate
in November, up from 9.3 per cent
the previous month. Yet some of
those employed in the area are
faced with trickery which could
result in abolition of more jobs.
The labor movement has
prospered during hard times in
this nation. In fact, the auto
workers have organized to the
point that the U. S. Government
had to come to the rescue of
Chrysler Corporation and it isn’t
all over yet. Ford Motor Company
and General Motors are in serious
trouble. American productivity
has steadily decreased while
wages have steadily increased.
That blows to thunder that age old
supply and demand theory of
economics.
The cloud now hangs over the
Public Parade. Organized labor is
nothing new here. It could, though,
become something terrible. The
answer lies with some 179 workers
Forest Products, Inc.,
jffigible to vote in a union election
January 8.
Three unions are already in
place along the Public Parade.
They represent workers in var
ious trades, and have made ad
vancements without much fan
fare. The promise of such har
mony out at Atlantic Forest isn’t
encouraging.
Union Local 20408, United
Warehouse Industrial & Affiliate
Trades out of New York City is
represented by convicted felons.
They are experienced
troublemakers who would, ac
cording to past records, exploit
anyone for personal gain.
Seventy per cent of the eligible
workers at Atlantic Forest are of
the minority race. They all have
jobs worth keeping with a blue
chip company that puts out an
annual payroll of $2,500,000 and is
the largest taxpayer in Chowan
County. That makes the upcoming
event personal to all of us.
Local 20409 is a maverick group.
The attempt at Atlantic Forest is
the first made outside the New
York, New Jersey area. They
stand everything to gain on
January 8. Not only the employees
at Atlantic Forest but the entire
community has everything to lose.
It is hoped that those eligible to
“scratch” a ballot on January 8
will do only one thing ... think!
Then this entire area will have
shown a positive intent to do
The Chowan Herald (USPS 106-380)
P. O. BOX 207, EDENTON, N. C. 27932
Published every Thursday at Edenton by The Chowan Herald, Inc., L. F.
Ambum. Jr., Editor and Publisher, 421-425 South Broad Street, Edenton, North
Carolina, 27932.
Entered as second-class matter August 30,1934, at the Past Office of Edenton,
North Carolina, under Act of March 3, 1870.
1. F. AMBURN, JR. E. N. MANNING
EDITOR « RURUSHER GENERAL MANAGER
R. FLYNN SURRATT J. EDWIN BUFFLAP
MANAGING EDITOR EDITOR EMERITUS
JANE B. WILLIAMS SUSAN BUNCH
ADVERTISING DTRICTOR OFFICE MANAGER
Subscription Itates
One Year 'outside NTSIO.OO
line Year * in M'.i $0.38
Si* Months'outside NC. i $6.50
• ■ $6,00
Edenton. North Corollno, Thuradoy. Jonuory 1, 1081*
JwF I
Es |
MEMORIAL GIFT Edenton United Methodist Church is
recipient of a small concert piano given in memory of Dana Lea
Darnell by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. James E. Darnell. Rev.
Richard Blankenhom, center, presented a key to the piano on
behalf of the Darnell family to C. B. Smith, representing the
Board of Trustees. At lefft is Mrs. Lucy Brown who played a
dedication number at last Sunday’s service.
something constructive about
' improvement of conditions
hereabouts, not destructive.
The cards will be in the hands of
those 179 eligible employees at
Atlantic Forest. They have a great
responsibility and we have enough
faith in those who meander along
the Public Parade that they aren’t
about to choke.
Let’s resolve to think!
More Aggressive
It has long been stipulated that a
stuck hog squeals. In recent weeks
court officials along the Public
Parade and throughout Tar Heelia
are acting like victims.
The issue centers around im
plementation of new state laws
governing requirements for
sentencing and a speedy trial. This
is but one issue on which the N.C.
District Attorneys Association is
becoming more aggressive.
It has only been in recent years 1
that the code of ethics for lawyers
allowed them to advertise. The
DA’s are making full use of the
change via a media blitz which
warns of forthcoming dangers -
like a backlog of cases, or less
than professionalism in the
disposition of cases.
Dist. Atty. Tom Watts is im
mediate past president of the DA’s
association. It was during his term
that the prosecutors started being
more visible outside the court
room. It may have come too late.
Like a lot of other drawers of the
bureaucracy, our court system is
often misunderstood. A lot of it has
been brought about by “refor
mers” who have created a
monster. The District Court
system is a case in point. The
reorganization a few years back
created a paper giant which has
proven to be burdensome, if
nothing else.
Apparently members of the
General Assembly, which is
composed of a generous number of
gentlemen of the bar, haven’t
“gone to school” on earlier
miscues. Each session sees layer
applied to layer of rules and
regulations which in many cases
tie the hands of law enforcement
officers and-or make it practically
impossible for prosecutors to
function.
j The DA’s association estimates
it will cost in excess of $lO-million
in additional funds over the next
two years to staff sufficiently to
administer new
wrinkles coming down the pike, in
the name of more equal justice for
all.
Judge Herbert Small, like DA
Watts, has raised a flag. He is a
former DA and is considered to be
one of the most astute members of
the bench. Judge Small, while
having a reputation of being a
“toughie”, is a conservative who
is determined to get the maximum
result out of the system. When he
speaks, someone should listen.
The courts are now faced with
what local governments have been
yelling about for years. It centers
around good intended legislation
that is salt out to be implemented
without funds to do the job.
The fact that the DA’s and
judges have become more
aggressive in bowing up to
lawmakers produces a ray of hope
in many quarters. If nothing else,
they talk the same language with a
majority of the people in the
General Assembly who give birth
to some of the bad legislation.
New Year’s Day
Schedule Listed
The last general holiday before
Easter will be observed here today
(Thursday). Activities in Edenton
and Chowan County are expected
to be at a slow pace on New Year’s
Day.
Local, state and federal offices
will be closed Thursday. So will all
financial institutions and most
businesses.
The U.S. Postal Service will
operate on a normal holiday
schedule in observance of New
Year’s Day. No residential,
business, or rural delivery will be
provided. However, mail will be
put in boxes at the post office.
The Chowan Herald office will
be closed Thursday. The
newspaper is being published on
the regular schedule this week,
which means distribution by mail
will be Friday.
Rate Hike
Continued From Page 1
declines, it is explained. The
companywide EAS annual
revenue requirement has been
placed at slß.Anillion, but the
existing rate structures produce
$7.9-million, leaving a revenue
deficit of $10.2-million.
“If EAS rates are not adjusted,
then all rate payers will have to
subsidize EAS through higher
basic service rates,” the company
contends.
Smaller Classes
Continued From Page 1
1981-82 and $4.50 per hour in 1982-
83. Increments are also requested
each year of the biennium for non
certified school personnel which
includes aides, clerical assistants,
custodians, and maintenance
supervisors.
Among the other priority budget
requests are allotments for: in
structional materials, supplies
and equipment; textbooks;
cultural arts education; additional
aides; health, safety and
physical education; science
education; the Quality Assurance
program (QAP) for professional
personnel; economic education;
staff development; additional
regional education center per
sonnel; state positions formerly
paid with federal funds; com
munity schools; and mandated
matciting requirements for School
Food Services.
Officers Arrest j
‘Milkshake Bandit’
Edenton’s “milkshake bandit”
is lodged in the Chowan County
Detention Facility here after
being arrested in South Carolina.
Hie arrest last week of the AWOL
sailor allegedly solved four drug
store armed robberies.
Carroll Henry Dockery, 22,
Route 5, Travelers Rest, S.C., was
arrested near Greenville, S.C., by
the FBI. The agency was acting on
a tip from Edenton Police
Department.
Chief J. D. Parrish said
Dockery has admitted to the
October 12 armed robbery of
Hollowell & Blount Rexall Drug
Store on South Broad Street, and
other similar offenses in Elizabeth
City and Murfreesboro. Dockery
faces two counts in Elizabeth City.
Dockery was labeled the
“milkshake bandit” after his
behavior at the downtown drug
store. Witnesses have told police
investigators that the suspect was
in the business nearly one hour
before the robbery in which a
“shopping list” of drugs was
fiUed.
The suspect allegedly ordered a
strawberry milkshake and
calmly consumed it while heavy
Sunday afternoon traffic cleared
out.
The suspect fled to an awaiting
car at the foot of the Courthouse
Green on Water Street. The car
was seen speeding up North
Oakum Street.
Robert Hendrix, district
juvenile probation officer who
lives several miles north of
Edenton on Highway 32, heard
police broadcasts of the crime. He
met a suspicious car on the high
way and by quick thinking got the
license number.
Police officers in Norfolk, Va.,
matched the Virginia license
number to a vehicle near the USS
America. Dockery was then listed
as a suspect but he escaped from
confinement aboard ship and has
been AWOL since mid-October.
Chief Parrish said it was not the
suspect’s first time at being
AWOL. The FBI agent who
arrested him in South Carolina
had performed the same duty ,
earlier.
Capt. C. H. Williams and
Patrolman Andy Maglione
returned Dockery from South
Carolina Christmas eve. A
probable cause hearing has been
set in Chowan County District
Court on January 6.
Chief Parrish said additional
arrests are anticipated.
Jobless Rate
Tops State
The unemployment rate in
Chowan County rose to 7.3 per cent
in November, which is higher than
the North Carolina figure of 6.5 per
cent. The November overall rate
in this state was slightly up from
the 6.3 per cent rate in October.
Mrs. Alice Bond, Edenton office
manager, said Tuesday the local
rate is higher than in some other
areas because of a cutback in the
peanut industry. “There was a
general cutback,” she observed,
“but the greatest effect is in the
peanut industry.”
Mrs. Bond predicted that the
December rate would be even
higher because of the lack of
peanut product for processing at
local industries.
Public Hearing
The N.C. Division of Marine
Fisheries is conducting a public
discussion meeting at 7:30 P.M.
January 7 in the new Chowan
County Courthouse on Broad
Street.
The purpose of the meeting is to
allow fishermen the opportunity to
express themselves to Marine
Fisheries officials on regulations
they would like to see changed or
amended, or new ones added.
“Marine Fisheries officials
want fishermen to become more a
part of the regulation making
process because these decisions
govern their livelihood,” a
«pnkt>Rmfln said.
Questions regarding this
moving should be directed to
Cariton Nixon or Lester Lewis in
NEW CONSTRUCTION Workmen are shown here pouring
concrete at the site of a new solid waste transfer station for the
Town of Edenton. The station, the first of its kind in this area, is
being developed near the Municipal Garage, between North
Broad and North Granville streets. (Staff Phqto by Luke Am
burn.)
Continues High Rates Battle
A. U
Continued From Page 1
charges of bad management, etc.,
are all ultimately tacked onto the
consumer’s bill. In Northeastern
North Carolina some are paying
twice since Operation Overcharge
is financed from voluntary con
tributions.
Operation Overcharge has not
had an opportunity to respond to
Vepco’s latest request for a rate
increase on retail customer bills.
Ohe can expect the reply to make
sense, something which isn’t
always the case with utility
commission decisions and court
rulings.
However it it said, by Gov.
James B. Hunt, Jr., or an elderly
person on a fixed income, electric
rates are dangerously high in
Northeastern North Carolina.
The Vepco saga cut through to
Gov. Hunt in February, 1979, when
thousands of names on petitions
were laid on his desk. The
Edenton-Chowan Chamber of
Commerce was a leader in the
petition drive. And Gov. Hunt
responded by calling for the most
inclusive investigation ever held
in this state on a utility matter.
The petitions followed a May 16,
1978, hearing in the area, the first
time the Utilities Commission had
ever gone into the territory in
volved to hold public hearings.
Again, representatives of
Edenton-Chowan Chamber of
Commerce were in the vanguard.
Gov. Hunt and State Sen. Melvin
R. Daniels, Jr., argue that the Vep
co rates are keeping out much
needed industry. In fact, Gov.
Hunt has gone so far as not merely
suggest but invite Vepco to move
out of North Carolina. That is a big
pill, one which would take a long,
long time to digest. But in some
areas of Eastern North Carolina
progress is being made as in
dustries and municipalities make
moves to switch to Carolina Power
& Light Company.
As for Edenton and other
municipalities in the Albemarle
Area, the remedy appears to be in
a Power Agency set up where the
wholesalers own a piece of the
action. The other new thing on the
horizon is the use of peat from
First Colony Farms to Fire boilers.
N.C. Electric Membership Cor
porations are pioneering this
course, with Ed Brown, Jr., of
Albemarle EMC in Hartford, on
the inside track.
Operation Overcharge’s battle
with Vepco has (brawn interest
throughout the United Sates. The
June 23, 1960, issue of the Los
Angeles Times curried a feature
by Debra Whitefield, a Times
staffer, who observed that “Vepco ,
no longer considers the feud a
minor scuffle with inflation-weary
customers.”
She went on to write: “Fur
thermore, this struggle by a few
thousand North Carolinians could
help shape the future course of
utility-consumer relations all
across the country.”
“We consider this a precedent
setting case,” said Harold T.
(Harry) Judd, an attorney for the
Department of Health and Human
Services’ U.S. Office of Consumer
Affairs, which has intervened in~j
this matter. “There’s a very
strong prospect that this case will
establish a standard for per
formance. . .that consumers can
weigh against any utility
anywhere.”
1116 LA Times writer observed:
“When consumers in North
Carolina began comparing utility
rates, they found that Vepco’s
were by far the highest of the three
utilities serving the state.”
In June, Larkin Little of
Greenville, chairman of Operation
Overcharge, stated with
justifiable pride that Vepco had'
requested no general rate in
creases in North Carolina since
the formation of the grass roots
group. Conversely, the company
had sought five such increases in
neighboring Virginia during that
time.
At a recent meeting of Operation
Overcharge’s Executive Com
mittee with members of the
General Assembly representing
the affected area, Dr. Robert
Fishbach, director of the Public
Staff, N.C. Utilities Commission,
noted that at no time in the next 10
years is it forecast that Vepco
will have rates in line with CP&L
and Duke Power Company.
“We just don’t see any im
provement at all,” Hege stated
last week. “But we are going to
stay with this thing until
something is done about it.”
Hiat is the fighting spirit that
has prevailed from the time
Edenton-Chowan Chamber of
Commerce joined with colleagues
in more than 20 counties. Although
there is an absence of “big bucks”
to operate Operation Overcharge
the volunteers have found a
possible substitute - it is called
determination.
Sojays the VA... Sky**
n IMAMS WITH
latMUNce
k SMOKO MY
PC EM UNAS
N TIME
*•» MM IN » AM jr. f* m
1 Contact neatest V* often (ctm-fc ytw
phone MO on j taut *eli»u«
——.— J