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VETERANS DAY
IS APPROACHING...
482-4418
Wednesday, October 18, 201 7
50 s
WE WANT TO
KNOW ABOUT ALL
AREA VETERANS.
SEE AD INSIDE
FOR DETAILS!
Boys and Girls Club gets new home
BY MILES LAYTON AND
REGGIE PONDER
Cooke Communications
The Chowan County
Commission unanimously
approved plans to bring the
Boys & Girls Club of the
Albemarle to the old D.F.
Walker High School.
During Monday’s meet
ing, Commission Chairman
Jeff Smith praised the agree
ment between the county,
the Edenton-Chowan unit
of the club and the Col
lege of the Albemarle. The
amended lease will be sent
to the club and COA for
their approval.
“I think this is probably
one of the better things that
Chowan County has done
in a long time,” Smith said.
“I think it is a new day for
the campus over there and a
new day for the relationship
between the county and the
youth of our county. This
will be a win-win for every
body.”
Edenton Mayor Roland
Vaughan said the agreement
will make Chowan County a
better place to live.
“What really gives me a
lot of pleasure as a commu
nity leader is first, the move
is to a better location where
it can serve the children of
Chowan county. Second,
the county has a tenant for
the vacant Walker School
building,” said Vaughan,
chairman of the club’s
Board of Directors. “Third,
D.E Walker alumni will
now know that their former
high school is serving the
needs of children through
the structure of the Boys &
Girls Club. Fourth, COA is
no longer concerned about
a vacant building on then-
campus and they are very
excited about the future
use of that building. To get
all those parts satisfied —
that’s big time for a building
that has been search of love
for a long time.”
County officials have ex
pressed hope that the new
agreement with the Boys &
Girls Club will lead to a re
vitalization of the campus as
well as an overall improve
ment in the neighborhood.
“We feel that locating the
Boys and Girls club in the
D.F. Walker building is an
important piece in improv
ing the COA campus,” said
Chowan County Manager
Kevin Howard. “It will allow
us to renovate the biggest
RELATED
Commission discusses ‘im
minent need’ and ERA - 7A
eyesore on the campus if
not the neighborhood. We
appreciate the Boys and
Girls Club being willing to
partner with us and make
this happen.”
D.F. Walker High School
educated generations of
black students in the Eden
ton community in the years
before the local schools
were integrated.
County officials for more
than two years had been
talking about finding a suit
able use for the building that
would be self-sustaining
financially and that prefer
ably would keep the build
ing in use for educational
purposes.
County officials have es
timated it will cost between
$2.5 million and $4 million
to repair the structure. The
most critical structural is
sues at this point are to get
the building sealed, the win
dows repaired and the roof
fixed.
See CLUB, 7A
Two men
killed in
wrecks
From staff reports
Two men have been killed
in traffic accidents that hap
pened within about a week’s
time in Chowan County.
A 26-year-old Chowan
County man was killed Sun
day evening when his car
overturned on N.C. Highway
94 southeast of Edenton,
the N.C. Highway Patrol re
ported Monday.
Trooper K.R. Briggs of
the N.C. Highway Patrol
identified the motorist as
Brandon Squires, of the 800
block of North Broad St.,
Edenton.
According to Briggs,
Squires was driving a 2016
Ford Fusion northwest on
N.C. 94 shortly before 11
p.m. when his car went off
the highway on the right
near the Colony Drive inter
section, just past Albemarle
Baptist Church. Squires
overcorrected and the car
crossed the center line and
went off the left shoulder of
the road and struck a ditch,
Briggs said. The car then
overturned, ejecting Squires
from the vehicle, he said.
Squires was pronounced
dead at the scene, Briggs
said.
Briggs said his investiga
tion shows Squires was not
wearing a seat belt and was
driving at an excessive rate
of speed prior to the acci
dent. The posted speed limit
for that section of N.C. 94 is
55 mph.
A Chowan Emergency-
911 operator received a call
reporting the wreck at 11:03
p.m.
About a week ago on Oct.
8, a Chowan County man
died Saturday night follow
ing a single-vehicle accident
on N.C. Highway 37, accord
ing to the N.C. Highway Pa
trol.
Thomas Allen Dail, 31, of
Montpelier Drive, was driv
ing south on N.C. 37 around
10:17 p.m. when he lost con
trol of his vehicle, the patrol
said. The vehicle hit a ditch,
flipped over and overturned
in a field.
See WRECKS, 2A
PHOTOS BY MILES LAYTON/CHOWAN HERALD
U.S Senator Richard Burr, R-N.C., recently spoke to Rotarians in Edenton and Elizabeth City about affairs in
Washington, D.C. Leading Edenton Rotarians (left to right) Secretary John Morhead, President Bud Powell,
Sen. Burr, Assistant District Governor Charles Gregg and Mayor Roland Vaughan.
Senator Burr comes to town
BY MILES LAYTON
AND JON HAWLEY
Cooke Communications
U.S. Senator Richard Burr, R-N.C.,
recently visited Rotary clubs in Eden
ton and Elizabeth City to talk about
the issues facing Washington DC.
After having lunch with Rotary
Club of Edenton on Thursday at St.
Paul’s Episcopal Church’s parish hall,
Burr spoke to the Chowan Herald.
The Federal Historic Preservation Tax
Credit Program is not included in the
proposed federal budget — a loss of
which would impact the development
of historical properties.
Town Council adopted a resolu
tion supporting the tax credit dur
ing its Oct. 10 meeting. Councilman
Samuel Dixon said investors have ap
plied more tax credits per capita than
most anywhere in the state to restore
Edenton’s historical legacy. Destina
tion Downtown Edenton also adopt
ed similar resolution. Mayor Roland
Vaughan presented the resolution to
Burr last week when the senator was
in town.
The tax credit makes restoring
longtime downtown properties across
the Tarheel state more attractive to in
vestors.
“I believe America should do every
thing they can to restore older proper
ties,” Burr said. “The challenge is that
U.S. Senator Richard Burr talked
about tax reform, fake news and
President Trump during his recent
visit to the Rotary Club of Edenton.
we have a finite amount of money that
we deal with. As we get ready to dis
cuss tax reform and appropriations
this year, we are going to have to fig
ure out what we can fund and what we
can’t fund. I think any way the federal
government can create incentives for
the preservation of historic buildings
— that’s a smart long term function.”
During Burr’s speeches to Rotar
ians, he said Republicans are pursu
ing corporate tax reform as a means
to that end. Democrats opposed to
the GOP proposals have called them
windfalls for wealthy Americans.
While not addressing those criti
cisms, Burr noted that Republicans
are grappling with the issue of “pass-
through income.” Changing how pass-
through income is taxed could help
wealthy Americans reduce their tax
burden by reclassifying personal in
come as business income.
Acknowledging the difficulty of
reforming corporate taxes, Burr said
Republicans will likely face a dead
line to get a bill passed and signed by
Trump.
“If we don’t do it by the end of the
year we’ll never do it,” he said.
Recent headlines suggest the
mainstream media is being unfair to
Trump. Most recently, Trump took
aim at ABC News for reporting that
he called for a tenfold increase to
the nation’s nuclear arsenal during a
national security meeting this sum
mer. Trump denied the claims as did
Defense Secretary James Mattis. ABC
News dialed back its story by later re
porting that the Pentagon has no cur
rent plans to increase the size of the
U.S. nuclear arsenal. Coming on the
heels of this latest incident that Trump
See BURR, 3A
New station
poised to
erase crime
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The Oct. 11 dedication of
the new headquarters for
the Edenton Police Station
was a time for celebration
for the officers who work
there and for those living
in the North Oakum Street
neighborhood where it is
located.
Police Chief Jay Forten-
bery said positive changes
are already being seen as a
result of the department’s
move from the local Public
Safety Center.
“The new police station
has positively impacted
both the landscape and
criminal activity in the North
Oakum Street area,” Forten-
bery said. “The old Crown
Mart that was demolished
to make room for the new
station was a ‘hot spot’ for
alcohol, drugs and loiter
ing violations that required
many hours of police ser
vice. Several shootings also
occurred at that location in
recent years.”
Officers, too, are ben
efiting from the amenities at
the new site, the police chief
said.
“The officers are enjoy
ing the layout and design of
the new station which was
created with maximum ef
ficiency and effectiveness in
mind,” Fortenbery said. “We
have started using the new
training room for our in-
service training and officers
are taking advantage of the
new weight room. The new
police station will serve the
town well for many years to
come.”
Mayor Roland Vaughan
said many hands played
a role in the planning and
completion of the new po
lice station, starting with
the town council and en
compassing architects and
builders like Oakley Collier
Architects, the A.R. Ches-
son Construction Company
and the town’s purchasing
agent, Bud Powell.
But he said perhaps no
one played a more pivotal
role than the citizens com
mittee that offered input
and advice on the project
See STATION, 2A
f
Woman dies in house fire
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©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
0
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
A house fire early Friday
has claimed the life of a 29-
year-old Edenton resident.
Police Chief Jay Forten
berry said Artrice L. Heck-
stall died in the fire that de
stroyed the home she shared
with her mother at 104 Valen
tine Street.
“This is a terrible tragedy
— terrible when we lose
someone like that,” he said.
Fortenberry said there are
no signs of foul play, but the
fire is under investigation
by the Edenton Fire Depart
ment, which along with the
Center Hill-Crossroads Fire
Department and Chowan
County Emergency Medical
Services, responded to the
blaze.
No one else was injured in
the fire which started around
12:40 am., Fortenberry said.
Neighbors said Heckstall’s
mother, Monica Bonner, was
able to get out the house
safely. Bonner tried to rescue
her daughter, but was unable
to, they said.
Sam Downing, who lives
on nearby Shenita Lane in
Edenton, also tried to rescue
Heckstall.
Downing said he was re
turning home from work at
See FIRE, 2A
PHOTO BY MILES LAYTON
Fire consumed the home located at 104 Valentine St
in Edenton.