Volume XLVIII-No 60
£JL_
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, March 22, 1984
Sinale Copies 25 Cents
Hospice
“I’m sorry, there’s really nothing
else we can do.” - ^
When patients and families
receive this message from their
doctor, the reaction may vary from
shock, to rage, to despair.
But now, in some 45 communities
in North and South Carolina, an
organization called “Hospice”
shows that there is a great deal we
can do for terminally-ill patients
and for their families.
Hospice is already organized
nearby in Bertie, Gates, Hertford,
and Northhampton counties. At
tempts are being made to establish
such a program in Chowan County.
Hospice recognizes that people
are not simply a conglomeration of
symptoms. 'Hiey are whole persons
whose minds, hearts, and spirits
need care from a variety of sources
as they cope with the realization
that death is approaching. It can
provide for those needs by creating
teams of doctors, nurses, clergy,
social workers, therapists, and
trained volunteers - all of whom
work with the patient and the fami
ly to relieve pain, anxiety, depres
sion, and to maintain the dignity of
those invloved.
Hospice services are available
twenty-four hours a day, seven
days a week, and have recently
been approved by Congress for
Medicare reimbursement.
Medicare alone will not solve
Hospice’s funding problems. Fun
ding is the continual problem of all
not-for-mrofit programs. But this is
not the only hurdle the Hospice ef
fort faces.
Interested people in Chowan
County are discovering that the en
thusiasm is tremendous, but that is
rtow fr&to'rSmlffie erifftar
idea to the actuality.
Judi Lund, executive director of
the state-wide agency, Hospice of
North Carolina said: “It is a serious
undertaking to start a Hospice. It
takes effort, coordination and
cooperation. Most hospices begin
with those one of two special peo
ple who see what it can mean to
their community and are determin
ed to provide this service to
oiiiers.
Kay Whedbee (338-2167) with
Home Health Services in Elizabeth
City is the Hospice coordinator for
the Albemarle Area. Those who are
interested in becoming certified
Hospice volunteers can attend ses
sions at Holmes High School which
Thursday, March 27
00 until 9:30 P.M.
cording to Lund, finding pa
s is not a problem. Nor, sur
ngly, is it difficult to find board
mbers and volunteers who are
ling to undertake the necessary
ipice training. “The people are
there, even when the money
isn’t. And so is the willingness to
work and to share and to care.”
And that’s what Hospice is real
all about.
CRC Stays Tough
The Coastal Resources Commis
sion Is once again meeting in Nor
theastern North Carolina. Dr.
Parker Chesson, chairman, and
Charles Wells, vice chairman, will
host the group Thursday and Fri
lay at Elizabeth City in the Isle of
’asg^otank.
The commission, one of the most
important in the state, has had its
share oi controversary. The
Coastal, Area Management Act is
the most attended piece of legisla
tion to be passed by the General
Assembly. While CAM A has
withstood efforts to be abolished, as
well as challenge* in court, it con
tinues to be an agenda item
, One of the saying graces of
....... ’ •> ^
Investigation Continues In Shooting Death
By Ron Anderson
The investigation is continuing in
to the shooting death of a Port
smouth, Va. police detective whose
body was found floating face down
in Warrick Swamp near the Gates
and Chowan County line early Sun
day morning, March IS.
The body of Garland L. Joyner,
39, a member of the Portsmouth
Police Department of 14 years was
found close to 7:15 A.M. Sunday
after a motorist reported seeing an
i
abandoned car along the roadside
four feet from the bridge over the
swamp on the Gates County side.
Chowan County Sheriff Troy Top
pin said that when he arrived on the
scene he found a gray 1977 Datsun
sedan, believed to have been bor
rowed by Joyner, parked on the
Gates County side of the county,
line. Three of the car’s doors were
open and its back window had been
shot out. Toppin said that there was
no sign of fowl play or any blood on
.® \l
MYSTERY—Sheriff Toppin looks down from the Highway 32
bridge on the Chowan-Gates Co. line into the Warrick Swamp. The
Sheriff found the body of a Portsmouth Police Officer floating in
the swamp on Sundav morning, March 18.
the road.
When the sheriff looked over the
bridge he saw Joyner’s body
floating in the water below. The
body was clad in a T-shirt, pants
and shoes.
Toppin said that Joyner was dead
from a single gunshot firecl into his
left chest.
Gates County Sheriff Ray Harrell
and the N.C. SBI was notified and
the investigation was begun into a
case which contains few leads.
Olivia Mundie, who lives in Gates
County less than 300 yards from
where the body was found, said that
she and her husband, Keith, heard
three successive shots fired close to
5:00 A.M. Sunday morning. Thirty
seconds later they heard another
shot.
The couple said the shots sound
ed like they came from a rifle or a
high powered hand gun. They didn’t
call the authorities because they
thought the shots came from
hunters spotlighting deer and that
by the time the authorities could get
there the hunters would have left.
Two guns were found at the
scene: a .38 caliber service
revolver which was found in the
swamp near Joyner’s hand and a
9mm automatic which was found on
the rear seat of the Datsun. It is
believed that the bullet in the left
side of Joyner’s chest came from
the .38.
“We have no leads as to why the
police officer was down here,”
Sheriff Toppin said. “We know he
was coming to meet someone, but
we’re trying to find out who that
is.”
Joyner did tell a friend that he
had to meet some men involved in
a special investigation he was
making.
Toppin has been broadcasting a
request that the person Joyner was
to meet come forward and aid in
the investigation.
Joyner, who was married and
had a daughter in high school, was
dedicated physical evidence
specialist who often spent his own
time devising new ways to catch
criminals. He was also described as
a man who trusted few people.
Investigators are hoping that the
findings of a North Carolina
medical examiner and a ballistics
expert will help clear up some of
the mystery in the case.
The case is being treated as a
homicide but the possibility of
suicide has not been entirely ruled
out.
On Wednesday morning, March
21 Sheriff Toppin said there were no
new developments in the case.
The investigation is being con
tinued by the Chowan Co. Sheriff’s
Dept., the Gates Co. Sheriff’s Dept.,
the N.C. SBI and the Portsmouth
Police Dept.
State Clean-Up
Effort To Begin
By Maru Amburn
Chowan County will participate
in the annual state-wide litter clean
up effort, according to County Com
missioners Chairman Alton
Elmore.
“In the past, we have not organiz
ed public participation in the
clean-up campaign,” Elmore
said, “This year, we want to get as
many individuals involved as
possible.”
The County has requested that
county employees volunteer their
Continued On Page 4
Town WaterRatc increase Effective May 1
By Maru Amburn
Water rates for the average
Edenton household will increase
over two dollars a month and out
of-town and industrial customers
will be hit harder when a town rate
'increase takes effect.
The rate increase, scheduled to
begin on May 1, was approved by
the Town Council by a voice vote in
a special meeting Tuesday.
The new rate structure is intend
ed to provide for total system cost
recovery for fiscal years 1984-1987.
Four alternative rate structures
were presented to the council by
Ford Chambliss representing the
Raleigh engineering firm of L. E.
Wooten and Company.
Monthly water bills for the Eden
ton residential customer using 5,000
gallons of water per month will in
crease from $5.35 to $7.55.
In comparing Edenton rates with
those of other local municipalities,
Elizabeth City is higher across-the
board and Hertford generally has
lower rates than the new rates
adopted by the council.
According to Town Manager Sam
Noble, water revenues were not
adequate to meet the water-related
portion of the Town’s public works
budget.
Chambliss agreed that, “The
town is coming very close to loos
ing money on base cost and is in
need of rate adjustments.”
“The lowest rate is currently too
low,” he continued. “There is an in
herent inequity between in-town
and out-of-town users.”
“The Town of Edenton’s current
rate charges too much to the small
user and too little to the large
user,’ Chambliss said.
The town’s only out-of-town
water customer is Chowan County,
Noble noted. The water rate charg
ed to the county will increase from
85 dents per 1000 gallons to $1.25 per
1000 gallons.
L. E. Wooten Company advised
the town in a September 1983 water
rate study that a publicly owned
utility need not be a profit-making
entity, but that rate should be
designed to provide for the opera
tion, maintenance and administra
tion of the utility.
The new town water rate plan
provides that interest earned from
capital reserve funds will be used
to increase the reserve, rather than
Continued On Page 4
Gilliam, Jones To
Appear In Telecast
GREENVILLE-State Rep. John
Gillam of Windsor, candidate for
Congress, and his opponent, U.S.
Rep. Walter Jones Sr., will both be
featured in a public television pro
file of the 1st Congressional District
race on March 23 and 25.
The political program
“Stateline” will broadcast at 7:30
P.M. Friday and 12:30 P.M. Sunday
on Channel 25 in Greenville, Chan
nel 2 in Columbia, Channel 4 on
cable television and Channel 19 in
Trenton.
In his newsletter, Jones said the
program would feature him in a
portrayal of the life of a
congressman.
WUNC-TV reporter Marc Fin
» Continued On Page 4
to here - Spring officially arrived at 5:25 A.M. Tiieaday, March 20. The dictionary
rtrarrihr »r nrrinir as of the vear in which Dlants begin to crow after lying dormant all
^S^TwTdSfodilSiBtMJe example of the thousands* plants in Chowan County beginning to
grow after a long winter. <Staf( photo by Ron Anderson)
NEW DEPUTY - Chowan County’s new Deputy Sheriff, Jerome
Harrell, was sworn in by the Honorable J. Richard Parker
Tuesday, March 20 in the Chowan County Courthouse.
Harrell Sworn In As New Deputy
For County By Judge J. R. Parker
By Ron Anderson
Jerome Harrell, Rt. 2 Box 164A,
Edenton, was officially sworn in as
a Chowan County Deputy Sheriff by
The Honorable J. Richard Parker,
District Court Judge, in the Chowan
County Courthouse at 10:30 A.M. on
Tuesday, March 20.
Harrell, 30, is a native of Chowan
County and a graduate of John A.
Holmes High School. He served
three years in the US Army and has
been a jailer for the county for close
to four years.
Sheriff Troy Toppin said that
things have really changed since he
became a deputy, “At that time,”
Toppin said, “they just swore you
in and told you to go to it."’
But times have changed. Before
he could even be sworn in, Harrell
had to have a medical examination
by a licensed physician , be of good
moral character as determined by
a through background investiga
tion; complete an occupational ap
titude test; be fingerprinted and
meet other minimum standards.
Also all new deputies are now
placed on a six month probation
period. During this time, Harrell
must complete 240 hours of basic
training along with performing the
regular duties of a Deputy Sherifff.
Trial Of Murder Suspects Set
Chowan County Superior Court
will meet Monday, March 26. Judge
Elbert S. Peel, Jr. will preside over
the criminal calendar.
Included mi the criminal calen
dar are the trials of three men
charged in connection with the
murder and robbery of Yeopim
Township store owner Les Jones.
Jones was murdered on January 31,
1979.
Two of the men, Clyde Alexander
Leary, 20, at Edenton and Donald
Veruall Broedy, 29, of New York Ci
ty ere charged with murder; arm
ed robbery and accessory after the
fact to murder and armed robbery.
George Lee Re veil, 31, Hempstead,
N.Y. is charged with murder and
robbery.
The cases were continued from
the January 30 Special Session of
Superior Court because of dif
ficulties with an essential witness
for the state.
Also scheduled on the calendar is
the sentencing of three men, Larry
Wayne Sanders, Mitchell Duke
Ivey, and David Singletary, who
have all been tried in connection
with the June 1962 burning of the
Elliott House.
C. Christopher Bean
Bean To Manage
Thornburg Bid
C. Christopher Bean of Edenton
has been named to manage the
Chowan County Thornburg for At
torney General campaign.
Judge Lacy Thornburg, 54, is the
Democratic nominee for the at
torney general’s post. He faces no
opposition in the May primary.
In addition to the completion of
campaign organizations in all of
North Carolina’s 100 counties,
Thornburg’s election efforts have
been boosted by the announcement
of four key endorsements.
He has recently been endorsed by
the 52,000 member N.C. association
of Educators, the 145,000 member
N.C. State AFL-CIO, the 400,000
General Baptist State Convention,
and the Fraternal Order of Police.
A three term state legislator and
veteran Superior Court judge,
Thornburg seeks to replace present
Attorney General Rufus Edmisten,
who is seeking the Democratic
nomination for governor.
“I want to make the office of at
torney general the best possible ex
ample of honest, hard-working and
responsible state government,”
Thornburg said.