Judge Grafton G. Beaman
believes in the work ethic.
Tuesday in Chowan County
District Court he passed the
theory along to a defendant.
Judge Beaman thinks a man
who doesn’t have a job should
make it his job to seek gainful
employment. While the able jurist
recognizes that jobs along the
Public Parade are difficult to
come by these days, he feels an
able bodied person who sincerely
wants to work can find em
ployment.
“You can’t just register with the
Employment Security Com
mission then sit back and wait for
someone to call you,” he told the
young defendant who admitted to
being nearly S9OO behind in sup
port payments.
make it my job trying to get a
"job,” he lectured.
The defendant was given until
August 30 to either become em
ployed or show up in court with 50
letters from employers saying he
had applied for a job. “You may
have to contact 100 or more to get
50 letters, but if you work from 9
A.M. to 5 P.M., five days a week it
can be done,” the jurist said.
The Beaman theory may take a
little leg work, which is more than
the man has done since the
judgment was handed down in
September, 1976. We predict it
won’t hurt him a bit. He may find
working to get a job might even
improve his attitude.
And he may find it is easier to go
to work than to have a job of fin
ding a job. Work really isn’t all
*- that bad.
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More Than 'Token'
V
Mayor E.V. Wilkins of Roper
has catapult into the big league of
politics with the Hunt Ad
ministration. Last week his ap
pointment to the State Ports
Authority may have set some
record. It was his second major
appointment in the first seven
months of the Democratic seize of
state government.
One of Gov. Jim Hunt’s first
round of major appointments was
to the 14-member Secondary
Roads Council of the State
Department of Transportation.
Mayor Wilkins was named to
represent the First Highway
Division.
! Continued On Page 4
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CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY—Construction of a 7-Eleven
food store, under a franchise owned by Carter Bell Corporation of
Norfolk, is now in progress across from S & R Supermarket on
West Queen Street Extended. Completion date for the 40’ x 60’
convenience store is expected to be October, reported Ralph
J* Parrish, bead of the Town of Edenton Inspection Department. He
“ noted that the building permits were issued in March and con
struction got underway at the first of April.
|j Bloodmobile Monday At Edenton Baptist Church Fellowship Hall j
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RIBBO? T— I There were plenty of scissors available
Monday to ribbon officially opening the sl2.3*mi)lion U. S.
17 by-pass oi Left to right are: Mayor Pro Tem James
C. (Pete) Melvin Daniels, Rep. Stanford White, Rep.
Vernon James, J. (Monk) Harrington, C. A. Phillips, and
Thomas W. Brack% s V Jr.
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VISITORS AT DEDICATION—SeveraI counties and towns in
the Albemarle Area were represented at the dedication Monday.
Left to right are: Thomas Gray of Dare County; Riley S. Monds,
Jr., of Perquimans County; and Raleigh Carver of Pasquotank
Dedication
‘Kick-Off’
For Roads
Dedication Monday of the $12.3-
million U.S. 17 by-pass of Edenton
was hailed as the “kick off” for
greater improvements in the
transportation system in North
eastern North Carolina.
. Secretary of TransputatjojR _
Thomas W. Bradshaw, Jr., of
Raleigh, agreed with the
statement of State Sen. J.J.
(Monk) Harrington and cited
action by the Albemarle Area
Highway Committee as the
method for quicker realization of
requests.
At the same time, Sec. Brad
shaw noted that when the Edenton
project was made a part of a state
plan, the cost was set at $6-million.
“Ten years from now it would
probably cost $25-million or
more,” he said in pointing out the
need for approval in November of
a S3OO-million road bond
referendum.
“At stake is the vitality of the
road-building program in North
Carolina,” he said. And while
defeat of the referendum would
not stop efforts to build and
maintain a first-rate highway
system in the state, the secretary
said “our ability to meet that
challenge would be seriously
compromised.”
Sec. Bradshaw called Monday’s
dedication “a very happy oc
casion” and one which shows
Continued On Page 4
THE CHOWAN HERALD
Volume XLIII.—No. 32. Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, August 11,1977. Single Copies 15 Cents.
Vote On Ward System Seen
Voters in the Town of Edenton
are almost assured of an op
portunity in November to express
themselves on the mode of elec
ting councilmen. Council Tuesday
night voted unanimously against a
change to “ward” voting, but
Mayor Roy L. Harrell apparently
has sufficient signatures on
petitions to force a vote.
Mayor Harrell told councilmen
that during the past 30 days he
received signatures from 256
voters—22 more than the law
requires to have a vote initiated.
He said only two people he con
tacted refused to sign the petition.
The mayor handed W. B.
Gardner, town administrator, the
petition immediately after council
denied his request that they act
themselves on the question of
allowing four councilmen to be
elected only from the wards in
which they reside. “I think we are
New Offices
Hertford will become
headquarters for Albemarle
Regional Planning & Development
Commission next week. The of
fices will be moved from East
Queen Street in Edenton to two
locations in Perquimans.
Construction of a Perquimans
County-ARPDC office building is
underway. However, the lease has
expired on the ARPDC building in
Edenton and the move to tem
porary quarters was to be made
over the weekend.
While the general offices, in
cluding that of Bob Whitley,
executive director, will be in a
two-story home at 217 North
Church Street, several depart
ments will be housed in a con
verted service station on South
Church Street, just off U.S. 17 by
pass.
Located in the station will be the
aging, nutrition, family planning
and Emergency Medical Services
programs.
The manpower program will
continue to be headquartered at
Edenton Mtmtcipal Airport.
The new mailing address for
ARPDC will be Box 646, Hertford.
A new telephone number has not
been made available.
Opponents Os Rezoning
Sway Council Decision
Opponents of a three-year
struggle to have property adjacent
to U.S. 17 by-pass rezoned for
business use won another round
Tuesday night as Edenton Town
Council denied petitions calling for
Shopping Cento* and Highway
Commercial classifications.
In other action, council voted
unanimously to rezone a 26.79-acre
tract adjacent to Mexico Road and
Highway 32 from R-20 (residen
tial-farming) to Highway Com
mercial. This is the first quadrant
at the by-pass to gain a favorable
vote for business use.
The votes on two petitions from
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WITNESS OPENlNG—Pictured here is a part of the crowd that
turned out for Monday’s by-pass dedication. It was held at the
highway’s intersection with Highway 32, just north of Chowan
Hospital.
going to have an election,” the
confident mayor stated.
In a motion by Dr. Allen Horn
thal, seconded by Jesse L. Harrell,
councilmen reaffirmed support of
the present system. Now four
councilmen must reside in the
ward they represent and two run
at large, with all voted on by the
entire town. The mayor is elected
separately.
Councilman Harrell said he
would personally question all the
people on the mayojf’s petition and
explain to them what they signed.
He said by ward election of
councilmen people would give up
the right to vote for three people at
election time. “I can’t believe this
has been explained to those who
signed the petitions,” he added.
Councilman Hornthal read a
lengthy statement which rose
question of “disenfranchisement ’ ’
of citizens and redrawing of the
ward boundries to comply with the
“one man one vote” decision of the
U. S. Supreme Court.
He said the system could also be
in violation of the federal voting
rights legislation. He added that
the possibility exists with ward
voting that sectionalism might
divide the will of the council.
Hornthal also said: “Several
statements in Mayor Harrell’s
letter requesting the change
deserve comment. The argument
that a ‘mistake’ needs correcting
or a ‘wrong’ needs righting is
purely conjecture. This presup
poses that a ‘mistake’ or ‘wrong’
was committed in the first place.
He argued that the 1965
legislation approved in the
General Assembly was done in the
prescribed legal manner.
Continued On Page 4
Deadline Set
The deadline for picking up
reserved seat tickets for the
Edenton Aces football games is
Friday.
Mrs. Ethel Lavoie urges anyone
wishing to have the same seats as
last year to get in touch with her at
John A. Holmes High School.
After Friday the tickets will be
made available to the general
public.
W.J.P. Earnhardt, Jr., and Ber
nard Burroughs were identical,
3-3, with Mayor Roy L. Harrell
casting the tie-breaking “no”
vote; Voting in favor of the
petitions were Dr. Allen Homthal,
Harry Spruill and James C. (Pete)
Dail. In opposition were W.H.
Hollowell, Jr., Errol Flynn and
Jesse L. Harrell.
Efforts were being made by the
developers to have 10 acres on the
south side of Highway 32 rezoned
Highway Commercial and a like
amount of property on the north
side rezoned to Shopping Center.
There is a case on appeal to the
Soil Systems, Inc.
Will Excavate
Courthouse Site
Excavation of the site of the new
courthouse and jail will begin next
week with Soil Systems, Inc. of
Atlanta being awarded the con
tract for work estimated to be
completed by September 16.
A $23,727 contract was awarded
by the National Park Service
Interagency Archaeological
Service on Monday. Soil Systems,
Inc., a consulting firm that per
formed preliminary studies
leading up to the archaeological
excavation, was approved to
perform the project.
The excavation is the result of
federal regulations requiring that
projects using government money
be evaluated on the basis of en
vironmental impact including
areas of historical or ar
chaeological importance.
The buried tannery, opened in
1757 and in operation for about 10
years, is one of two tanneries of
that era discovered in the United
States for that reason it is of high
historical significance.
In addition to the tannery, the
Sauthier map of 1769 indicates the
presence of other support facilities
Continued On Page 4
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FENCED IN—This sign represents a sl.B-million federal grant
which Chowan County has received for construction of a court
house-jail complex in downtown Edenton. A fence has bean
placed around the one-block site and a contract let for further soil
investigation prior to construction. It is anticipated the project
will go out for bids next month.
N.C. Supreme Court concerning
designation of the tract on the
north side as Highway Com
mercial. This rezoning was ap
proved by the Town Council and
the action was upheld by the Court
of Appeals. The plantiffs were
successful in getting the higher
court to review the case.
In putting his case for rezoning,
Earnhardt said the by-pass is
begging for commercial use for
the motoring public. He said
“traffic-wise” it would be more
appealing to have the designations
switched.
Earnhardt, anticipating
statements about the traffic
pattern in the area near Chowan
Hospital, said state officials had
stated there would be no problem
with a shopping colter. And, he
said he wasn’t seeking strip
development but “planned unit
development.”
Dale Holland of Rocky Mount, a
professional planner who said he
represented Mr. and Mrs. N.J.
George, said the petitions were not
in keeping with sound principles of
zoning. He said a favorable vote on
the petitions would open the door
to development.
Joe Lee, chairman of the town’s
planning board, made a plea for
approval of the requests. He said
the board has unanimously ap
proved the requests several times
over the past three years. He
asked for council “to move for
ward with the project.”
When the second request was
opened for discussion, Henry Allen
Powell, who resides on North
Broad Street, said traffic should
not be considered. He said he lives
in an area of churches and
couldn’t understand people’s
action to deny development.
“People in the downtown area
can’t stop development but so
long,” he added.
Jimmie Parrish, a planning
board member, said something is
needed to draw people off the by
pass and into Edenton.
Merrill Evans, Jr., local at
torney, presented the case for
Thomas E. Francis and his
petition to rezone the property on
the other side of the by-pass. He
said the developer planned
something “unobjectionable” at
the location.
In answer to'a question from a
councilman, Evans said Francis
Continued On Page 4
Workshop Set
Edenton-Chowan Schools an
nounce a workshop for anyone
interested in becoming a sub
stitute teacher for the 1977-78
school year.
The workshop will be held
August 23 at D.F. Walker School
Cafeteria from 9 A.M. to 3 P.M.
Substitute teachers must hold a
high school diploma or the
equivalent and must attend this
full-day workshop before they can
be employed.
Additional information con
cerning substitute work may be
obtained by calling the Edenton-
Chowan School’s Administrative
Office.