mm
Recoup Funds
The N. C. Employment Security
. Commisson recovered $143,871.67
1 in unemployment insurance
overpayments during June, ac
cording U> figures released by the
commission’s anti-fraud unit.
The unit investigated 247 per
sons who have claimed or
currently are claiming unem
ployment insurance benefits. Os
that number, 177, or 72 per cent,
i were found to have been overpaid
$82,738.00. The commission
classified 89 of those cases,
representing $64,663.00 as fraud
and 88, representing $18,075.00, as
non-fraud.
A claimant must be proven to
have knowingly made a false
statement on a claim for resulting
overpayments to be classified as
fraud cases. Non-fraud over
payments generally result from
non-intentional filing errors where
fraudulent intent cannot be shown.
During June, 33 persons were
tried in state courts for unem
ployment insurance fraud and 32
of than were convicted.
Os the overpayments recovered
$35,803.67 was recovered through
refunds to the commission and
$108,068.00 was recovered by
withholding new benefits to
claimants who had been overpaid.
Footprints
The following item was handed
to us recently by a friend along the
Public Parade. It is extremely
comforting to the Ambum family
at this time, but it has something
to say for everyone. Here it is:
FOOTPRINTS
| One night a man had a dream.
He dreamed he was walking along
the beach with the LORD. Across
&e sky flashed scenes from his
e. For each scene, he noticed
two sets of footprints in the sand;
one belonging to him, and the
other to the LORD.
When the last scene of his life
flashed before him, he looked back
at the footprints in the sand. He
—“?ed that many times along the
i of his life there was only one
of footprints He also noticed
it happened gt tfife veryiowsst
’and saddest times in his life,
i This really bothered him and he
questioned the LORD about it.
] “LORD, you said that once I
' decided to follow you, you’d walk
with me all the way. But I have
noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life,
there is only one set of footprints. I
don’t understand why when I
needed you most you would leave
me.”
The LORD replied: “My
precious, precious child. I love you
and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and
suffering, when you see only one
set of footprints, it was then that I
carried you.”
Author unknown
Guest Editorial
Who’s teaching our children to
be socialists: parents, schools, the
media?
That’s hard to say. But they are
being indoctrinated as revealed in
a survey by the Opinion Research
Institution at Princeton Univer
sity. That group recently surveyed
high school students about the
American business system and
profits.
Here are some of its findings.
87 per cent of the high school
students do not believe in the need
few profits.
82 per cent do not think there is
competition in American business.
63 per cent favor government
ownership of banks, railroads and
steel conipanies.
61 per cent reject the profit
incentive as necessary for the
survival erf the free enterprise
system.
51 per cent think the federal
government contributes most to
national prosperity.
People who believe in our
system dre obviously failing to
teach young people the benefits of
the free (enterprise system, that
has (brought this country the
greatest prosperity in the world.
Ifthis failure to teach the young
continues, then some day soon,
when today ’s high school students
have become adults, don’t be
surprised if they vote free en
terprise right out of existence.
j JoelLawhon
Capital Broadcasting Co., Inc.
• . i
Mill Conversion Called Highly Profitable Venture
Interested in converting a five
story peanut mill in Edenton into
apartments? It would be
profitable, according to a recently
completed market and ar
chitectural feasibility study of the
historic Edenton Peanut Mill.
The study, conducted by a real
estate appraiser indicates that
Edenton has a strong market for
middle-income apartments. Since
the Edenton Peanut Mill is listed
in the National Register of
Historic Places, its owners would
be able to take advantage of
significant tax incentives for
rehabilitating historic structures.
The Edenton peanut Company’s
mill was built around 1909 to take
advantage of the large peanut
market in northeastern North
Carolina. Locally owned and the
first of its kind in Edenton, the
company soon prospered. The mill
produced 1,400 to 1,500 100 - pound
bags of peanuts per day at its
height. The mill was originally
powered by a steam engine fueled
by peanut hulls and employed
approximately 100 workers.
The tallest building in Edenton,
Cotton Growers
Aid In Study
The Chowan County cotton
growers and their county ex
tension agent have been
cooperating with the USDA and
NCDA to develop better
techniques for cotton insect
control.
During 1978, when USDA was
developing boll weevil eradication
technology here, there were 380
acres of cotton. In 1981 with the
boll weevil eradicated and two
years of successful testing with
biological materials there is now
4,600 acres of cotton spreading
from Chowan County into neigh
boring Gates and Perquimans
counties where the boll weevil
eradicated cotton years before.
At the invitation of the newly
formed Albemarle Cotton
Continued on page 4
oen. namngtan
Is Reappointed
Lt. Gov. Jimmy Green today
announced the re-appointment of
Sen. J. J. (Monk) Harrington of
Lewiston and Sen. R. P. (Bo)
Thomas of Hendersonville to two
year terms on the Environmental
Management Commission of the
Department of Natural Resources
and Community Development.
The Lt. Gov. originally ap
pointed them both in 1980 when the
commission was expanded by the
General Assembly.
The commission has the
responsibility of promulgating
rules and regulations to be
followed in the protection,
preservation, and enhancement of
water and air resources in North
Carolina.
Sen. Harrington, a Bertie
County manufacturer, has served
continuously in the Senate since
1963. During the 1981 Session of the
General Assembly, he chaired the
Senate Committee on Trans
portation. He served as vice
chairman of the Committee on
Rules and Operation of the Senate.,
He represents the first
Senatorial District, which is
comprised of Beaufort, Bertie,
Camden, Chowan, Currituck,
Dare, Gates, Hertford, Hyde,
Northampton, Pasquotank,
Perquimans, Tyrrell and
Washington counties.
I
4l .fe ■bHU
Sen. J. J. (Monk) Harrington
the mill is a strikingly handsome
solid-brick building with arched
windows. Brick pilasters rise
between the windows and ter
minate in a cornice that sets off
the fifth story from the lower
levels. A brick elevator shaft rises
at the coiter of the front facade,
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HISTORIC LANDMARK ON BLOCK The Edenton Peanut Mill, a structure listed in the
National Register of Historic Places, is being offered for sale by the Historic Preservation Fund of
North Carolina. A feasibility study shows that the building can be profitably used for middle-income
apartments, because of the tax incentives for rehabilitating historic structures.
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Vol. XLVI - No. 33
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In 1
FOOD TOWN’S TOP MANAGEMENT The power behind the
throne of Food Town Stores, Inc., is Ralph W. Ketner, left,
chairman of the board; and Tom Moore, president. Food Town
opens it’s 116th store August 12 in Edenton Village Shopping
Center on North Broad Street.
Telephone Company Files Request For Rate Increase
TARBORO Carolina
Telephone and Telegraph Com
pany on July 24 notified the N. C.
Utilities Commission that it will
file a request by the end of
August for increased rates.
T. P. Williamson, vice president
for Carolina Telephone, said the
company will request ap
proximately $47-million in in
creases in basic local service
rates, installation and change
charges, extended area service
(EAS) rates, and other sup
plemental service and equipment
rates and charges. No increases in
telephone rental charges are
planned. If in-state long distance
rates are increased prior to a
decision on the local rate request,
which Williamson said is
“probable,” Carolina Telephone’s
local service rates would not need
to be increased as much as
requested.
State and federal taxes, at
current rates, will take somewhat
more than half of whatever ad
ditional revenues may be granted
by the Utilities Commission as a
result of the planned request. Any
tax rate change made by Congress
extending beyond the roof line.
An Edenton landmark, the
peanut mill is approximately four
blocks from the Albemarle Sound.
Between the mill and the water
front is Edenton’s beautiful
historic district, which has been
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, August 6, 1981
this year could have the effect of
helping hold telephone rates down.
In August, 1980, Carolina
Telephone requested increases
totaling $25.5-million, a 13 per cent
increase in its in-state operating
revenues. It later reported that, by
the time its case was heard in
January, 1981, its new revenue
needs had grown to $36.2-million
annually because of continuing
high inflation, decreasing long
distance revenues and rising
operating costs. The Utilities
Commission authorized an in
crease of $18.4-million in April.
Williamson said, “Although we
regret having to do so, there are
several reasons why we have
absolutely no choice but to file
another rate’request just a year
after our previous filing.
“One of these reasons is that we
received only 50 per cent of what
we needed last year. That amount
fell far short of giving us an op
portunity to earn a return ac
ceptable to investors upon whom
we depend to supply our capital
requirements. We need to invest
about SIOO-million in new capital
each year to meet our customers’
featured in such publications as
“Antiques Magazine” and
“Southern Living”.
The Edenton Peanut Mill is
being offered for sale at $17,000 by
the Historic Preservation Fund of
North Carolina. The building has
Foodtown Stores, Inc.
Opens August 12
Food Town Stores, Inc., will
open its 116th store August 12 in
Edenton Village Shopping Center
on North Broad Street. The store
contains 21,000 square feet of
space, employs 50 people and will
be managed by Tim Melvin.
Food Town joins Cato’s, Shoe
Show, Revco Drugs, TG&Y and
Tarheel Bank & Trust Company in
the center. Figure Eight
Development of Wilmington is
owner of the project. Other
facilities are being planned.
The Food Town chain, which
advertises the lowest food prices
in North and South Carolina *-• d
Virginia, is headquartered m
Salisbury. The company has a 20-
acre distribution center in
Salisbury and has 900,000 square
feet of space for grocery and
perishable items under one roof.
Food Town employs ap
proximately 5,000 people at the
distribution center and in retail
outlets. Sales in fiscal 1959 were
near $416-million. Sales figures
were 39 per cent higher than the
previous year and estimated sales
for fiscal 1980 are $520-million as
needs and you can do that only if
you can pay a fair return to those
who supply that capital.”
Another reason for the proposed
case, according to Williamson, is
that costs have continued to in
crease since last year, and an
additional reason is that recent
decisions of the Federal Com
munications Commission have
increased expenses, reduced
revenues, and forced changes in
regulated operations.
“We don’t expect our customers
to be happy about this request,”
Williamson added, “any more
than we are. We plan to bring our
story to them, though, and by the
time our case is heard by the
Commission, we believe our
customers will understand why
this request is necessary and
justified.
“Local Service rates have risen
only twice, and have been reduced
once, in recent years. In contrast,,
nearly everything else goes up
every year, sometimes several
times during the year. We are
having to play catch-up and,
Continued on page 4
been appraised at $60,000.
The Historic Preservation Fund
has optioned the building from its
present owners, Jesse L. Harrell
and Alton G. Elmore of Edenton .
Furniture Company. “Messrs.
Harrell and Elmore have been
very generous in working with the
fund,”said J. Myrick Howard, the
fund’s executive director.
“Our study of this property
indicates that the recycling of
historic buildings Such as the
Edenton Peanut Mill can be
profitable as well as beneficial for
the community,” according to
Howard.
The Historic Preservation Fund
of North Carolina, Inc., is a.
private nonprofit statewide
revolving fund for historic
preservation. The first
organization of its kind in the
country, the Fund has bought and
resold more than twenty historic
properties in North Carolina.
These properties have been sold
under protective convenants and
represent more than $3-million in
private investments.
For more information about the
Edenton Peanut Mill, interested
parties should contact: J. Myrick
Howard or A. Melanie Murphy,
Historic Preservation Fund of
North Carolina, P. O. Box 27632,
Raleigh, N.C. 27611; telephone
919-832-3652.
Single Copies 20 Cents.
compared to $22.4-million in 1970.
“The company’s operating
policy is to sell merchandise at a
low gross margin in order to in
crease volume without propor
tionate increases in operating
expenses,” a company spokesman
pointed out.
Ketner, board chairman, has
been described as competitive,
resourceful, aggressive, en
thusiastic, creative, energetic,
and entrepreneurial. The 60-year
old board chairman is said to
approach his job as head of the
nation’s fastest growing food
chain with the evangelistic zeal of
a modern day Horatio Alger.
And he points with price to the
fact that Growth Stock Outlook,
and investment advisory service,
has called Food Town Stores
“America’s best managed food
chain.”
Peanut Program
Benefits Noted
The peanut program as
projected in the Helms Bill and the
Rose Bill works for the benefit of
peanut growers, shellers,
processors, manufacturers and
consumers. Sen. Jesse Helms of
North Carolina and chairman,
Senate Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition and Forestry and Rep.
Charles Rose of North Carolina,
chairman, House Sub-Committee
on Tobacco and Peanuts are
taking the lead in defending
present peanut legislation.
Both Mils seek to provide the
most optimum condition by which
farmers may earn a fair profit in
their efforts to supply ample
quantities of the highest quality
peanuts, at reasonable prices to
the consuming public.
Like the tobacco program,
peanut legislation has been a
supply-management program that
has worked well for over thirty
years. A supply of high quality
peanuts is produced by the farmer
to meet a reasonable demand with
a safe carryover, at little cost to
the Federal Treasurer. The two
tier price system has worked well
since it’s inception in 1977, as
“quota” peanuts are produced for
the domestic market and “ad
ditional” peanuts for the export
market.
The present Mils will provide a
Continued from page 1