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West Craven Highlights
Netvs From Along The Hanks Of The i\euse
NATIONAL rSWVWJVA
VOLUME ^TTin
FEBRUARY 9,1989
VANCEBQRO. NORTH CAROLINA
PHONE aMOTSO OR 946-2144
(UPSP 412-110)
25 CENTS
' SIX PAGES
Cove City’s
Suit Receives
Continuance
More Time To Review
Evidence Is Requested
Just Another Abandoned Barn
There seems to be a continuous crop of abandoned bams. They
sit, slowly decaying, tin tearing away from the roof, getting a bit
moredecrepit with each storm or burning summer, a marking the
losing struggle of yet another family farm. Eventually the last old
bam may disappear, sacrificed on the altar of another trailer park.
(Ric Carter photo)
By MIKE VOSS
Editor
COVE CITY—The lawsuit the
Town of Cove City Tiled last year
against the City of New Bern
over water has been continued,
said the lawyer for Cove City.
The suit was scheduled for this
week’s session of Superior Court
was continued, said Cove City's
lawyer, Tom Crawford.
No date has been set on when
the case will be heard, said the
para-legal for Kenneth R.
Wooten, the lawyer handling the
case for the town. Attempts to
contact Wooten were unsuc
cessful.
However, Crawford said he
thought the case was continued
to allow more time for discovery.
“I don’t think discovery is com
plete,” he said. Discovery is a leg
al term for parties in the suit
beingallowed to review evidence
pertaining to the case.
The town was recently turned
down on its grant request of
$600,000, part of which was
targeted for drilling a well and
hooking up to the Northwest
Craven water system. The denial
of the grant has left the town
seeking its own water source in
stead of depending on New Bern.
The town’s water woes came to
light last February when it filed
suit against the City of New Bern
and City Manager Walter B. Hart
man Jr. after the town and New
Bern were unable to reach an
agreement on a water rate in
crease and New Bern threatened
to shut off Cove City’s water
supply.
Alleged non-payment of water
bills since July, 1987, was the
reason New Bern said it would
fSee WATER, Page 5)
Research Key To Understanding Rivers’ Changes
If you had asked researchers
five years ago how serious the
pollution problems in the Neuse
or Tar-Pamlico rivers were, most
would have estimated them as
being fairly low. Ask a researcher
today, however, and the answer
will probably be that the prob
lems ate at least moderate, poss
ibly worse.
’Though several factors are re
sponsible for this more disturb
ing outlook, surely the most visi
ble symptom of declining water
quality in the Neuse and Pamlico
have been the number of fish
kills and disease epidemics seen
here since 1984. The Pamlico has
had more kills on it than any
other river in the state since that
time, and it was in 1984 that the
first outbreak of the skin disease
known as ulcerative mycosis
Analysis
(UM), was observed in juvenile
menhaden.
But Jess Hawkins, a member
of the Pamlico Emergency Re
sponse Team, said the Neuse
River is facing the same prob
lems as the more-publicized
Pamlico. The team is made of of
employees from the N.C. Divi
sion of Marine Fisheries and the
Division of Environmental Man
agement and was formed last
year to begin troubleshooting
problems in the river.
Up until 1984, UM had been
recognized as a not uncommon
fungal infection of freshwater
fish which normaily appeared as
a small red sore causing only su
perficial damage. The 1984 Pam
lico outbreak was particularly
significant, then, since it marked
not only the first time UM had
ever been recorded in brackish
(fresh-salt) water, but also was
characterized by unusually viru
lent sores which ate huge hunks
of flesh out of the fish and
affected nearly 109 percent of
some schools.
If those two elements were not
enough of a hint of trouble in the
Pamlico, the fact that UM has
reappeared every year since and
that it reached a ievel in 1988 not
seen since 1984 have certainly
opened some eyes.
Hawkins said UM is found on
fish in the Neuse and it is difficult
to determine actual numbers on
a scientific basis. Studies on UM
are being conducted mostly in
the Pamiico, but Hawkins said
any information gathered would
probably benefit researchers in
the disease’s occurrence in other
rivers, including the Neuse.
Equally disturbing is that skin
diseases of a lesser but still se
rious nature have been found on
virtualiy every other major spe
cies that inhabits the Pamlico
estuary as well, including floun
der, spot, shad, herring, croaker,
perch and eel. And beginning in
1987 a disease known as “bum
spot,” which literally eats
through the hard outer shell of
blue crabs, was observed on
crabs in the South Creek area of
eastern Beaufort County.
Interestingiy, though, while
the fungus which causes UM in
menhaden is suspected of trig
gering some of these other lesion
outbreaks, it apparently is not
the only culprit Various strains
of bacteria have been implicated
in a few cases, particularly the
bum spot problem of blue crabs.
But since UM has been the
most persistent and most severe
problem in the Pamlico and
could become a major problem
in the Neuse, it is the one that has
received the most attention to
date. Current research funded by
the Albemarle-Pamlico
Estuarine Study is looking at
severai aspects of UM, most par
ticularly why it is occurring in a
habitat it has never been found in
before and why it is striking with
a severity it has never shown be
fore.
Unfortunately, answers have
been hard to come by regarding
these questions. The most defini-
Ernul Woman Shot;
Classified Homicide
, ^gRNUL — Investigators are
classifying the shooting death of
a 26-year-old Emul woman as a
homicide.
Susan T. Toler of 1855 Hill
Neck Road died Monday
apparently from a gunshot
wound to the head. She was pro
nounced dead on arrival at
Craven Regional Medical Center,
said a hospital spokesman. Ms.
Toler died about 3 p.m., said the
spokesman.
“We are conducting a homicide
investigation with the assistance
of the State Bureau of Investiga
tion,” said Capt. George Brown
of the Craven County Sheriffs
Department on ’Tuesday.
Attempts to contact investiga
tors Wednesday were unsuc
cessful.
(See SHOOTING, Page 2)
Former Eagle To Play
For Pirates Next Year
ByMIKEVOS9
Editor
East Carolina University’s
football team may have stolen a
top-notch football player from
other schools when they landed
former West Craven High School
star George Koonce.
The West Craven product
spent the last two years honing
his defensive skills at Chowan
College — a school that has sent
ECU many outstanding players
and which ECU has sent on the
pro football.
Koonce, who played lineback
er for the Braves, verbally com
mitted to the Pirates last week
and is expected to ink with ECU
this week, if not already. The
signing period opened Wednes
day. In picking up Koonce, head
coach &II Lewis apparently is
making good on a promise to
(See KOONCE, Page 5)
Well In Hand
Although West Craven Middle School’s Mike
Mills (face showing) is under his opponent, he
recovered to win the 152-titIe at the P.S. Jones
Invitational Tournament last week. While Mills
appears to be falling toward the mat, the opponent
appears ready to be flipped on his back. See re
sults, page 4.
(Jim Green photo)
tive aspects of this outbreak of
UM to have been determined so
far are that it occurs almost ex
clusively in water with low-level
salinity (2-8 parts per thousand, a
range found anywhere from
Grimesland to South Creek), and
that the disease is non-existent in
ocean-going adult menhaden.
(Menhaden are hatched at sea,
whereupon the juveniles “re
cruit” to estuaries to mature and
'then swim back to sea when they
reach adulthood.)
Samples taken from between
200 and 250 stations in the Neuse
also show patterns similar to the
Pamlico.
Beyond that, most of the im
portant questions about UM re
main unanswered. Some of the
(See RIVERS, Page 5)
Jobless
Numbers
Decline
Craven Rate
Declines 1%
Unemployment was down in
Craven, Jones and Lenoir coun
ties and up in Pamlico County
during December when com
pared to the previous month,
according to figures released by
the N.C. Employment Security
Commission in Raleigh.
Craven County’s unemploy
ment rate decreased from 3.6 per
cent in November to 2.6 percent
in December. Jones County saw
its unemployment rate fall fi'om
4.3 percent to 3.9 percent. Lenoir
County’s jobless figure fell from
3.8 percent to 3.7 percent. Pamli
co County’s unemployment rate
increased from 2.8 percent in
November to 3 percent in De
cember.
In December, Craven County’s
work force totaled 30,920 and 800
were unable to secure employ-
(See JOBLESS, Page 2)
APES Committee Suggests Studies On Neuse River, Trawling
By MIKE VOSS
Edllor
The Albemarle-Pamlico
Estaurine Study is being asked
to study the effects of trawling in
rivers and creeks.
The resolution asking for the
study will be forward^ to the
technical and policy committees
of the study along with a priority
list adopted Tuesday night by the
Pamlico Citizens Advisory Com
mittee of APES. The list shows
projects that the committee
wotdd like to see studied in the
coming year.
Several projects to study the
Neuse River are also being consi
dered, including one that would
study flow patterns of the Neuse.
The committee wants the
study on trawling to include
effects on the habitat of the wa
ters, water qualities and
fisheries.
The advisory committee met
Tuesday night at Beaufort Coun
ty Community College.
APES, a federally funded
study, was started about two
years ago. Its purpose is to find
ways to preserve the natural pro
ductivity of the estuarine areas of
the Pamlico and Albemarle
sounds.
The advisory committee also
called for money to begin three
proposals — an animal waste
management project, an urban
stormwater runoff project in
Greenville and land acquisition
of critical natural areas.
Although the amount of avail
able money is not yet known, the
committee said the projects
would be usefiil.
The committee, headed by
Derb Carter, broke into two
groups to discuss the five areas of
the study. One group discussed
critical areas, fisheries and water
quality. The other group discus
sed human environment and
public participation.
After reviewing 59 project
proposals, the subcommittees
assigned priorities to the pro
jects. Those priority lists and re
quests for funding will be
fowarded to the technical and
policy committees of APES.
There is about $2.2 million in
state and federal money ear
marked for APES this year, but
not all of it goes to the recom
mended projects.
The proposals come from diffe
rent sources and were sought by
APES, with some proposals spe
cifically sought.
In thecritical areas the projects
endorsed included a natural
areas inventory, a soil survey in
Hyde County, a wetlands survey
(mapping) and land use map
ping.
In the water quality area the
projects endorsed included a
citizens’ monitoring program, a
heavy metals and sediment
study, a study on the potential for
eutrophication in rivers, a river
flow study for the Pamlico and
Neuse rivers, a study on the off
site effects of best management
practices, preparation of a nut
rients budget and a toxics inven
tory.
In the fisheries areas, projects
endorsed were a study on scallop
losses related to red tide, estab
lishing oyster beds in sounds and
a study of young striped bass in
the Roanoke River.
In the human environment
area the projects endorsed in
cluded two public attitude sur
veys, a management plan for
Currituck Sound and a Neuse
River management plan.
In the public participation
area, projects endorsed included
a press tour, several teacher
workshops, radio spots and de
velopment of bumper stickers
and posters.
(See APES, Page 5)