Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / March 29, 1984, edition 1 / Page 1
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Volume XLVIII-No. 61 Thursday, March 29, 1984 Single Copies 25 Cents Deserve Better It is essential to Northeastern North Carolina for the State Department of Transportation to continuously monitor factors affec ting the area. Roads have a direct bearing on everything, whether they are improved or maintained. liiere is complete agreement with an editorial Friday in our favorite afternoon daily of general circulation along the Public Parade. Northeastern Tar Heelia does need better treatment on road problems. While the editorial focus ed on U.S. 158 through Currituck County, it must be remembered that an adequate-not elaborate highway system is everyone’s backbone. Like the sales tax, it af fects, in some manner or another, . practically everything we do. In past years there has been con siderable focus on U.S. 17 and mak ing it a North-South corridor re mains a priority. The Albemarle Area Development Association has tasted success in getting the 10-county region to be unified on highways as well as other critical matters. Northeastern North Carolina is fortunate to have enjoyed hard working, dedicated members of the State Board of Transportation. In recent years these public servants have included Gilliam Wood of Edenton, Joe Nowell of Per quimans County, Marc Basnight of Dare County and Tom Campbell of Pasquotank. Within the past several months, Mr. Basnight has resigned and is a candidate for the State Senate from the First District. Mr. Campbell was appointed by Gov. Jim Hunt to fill the slot. Now Mr. Campbell has relocated in Raleigh and remains nt tki hirfWnrni' _ While Mr. Campbell surely main tains more than a passing interest in the First Highway Division, it is not unreasonable to believe that there is an advantage to having a resident in the position. The Daily Advance, while being specific on certain points such as U.S. 158 and Currituck County, sums the discussion up well with the following. “Thus far, the transportation department seems to be applying first aid treatment to an ailment that requires major surgery. Residents of Northeastern North Carolina deserve better.” We agree. Being Considerate It is time to rattle the trash cans again along the Public Parade. While a majority of the citizens hereabouts appreciate the conve nience of town and county or dinances, the slim minority should be more considerate, with regards to disposal practices. Garbage and trash are two dif ferent things. In the society in which we live, both are problems. This is a reason for dealing with them seperately. Both the Town of Edenton and Chowan County have adequate or dinances to cover the broad sub ject. They have certain designated days and/or places for the proper disposal of both garbage and trash. The time and location is supported financially by tax dollars. When these ordinances are abused (by breaking them) the culprit is not being considerate of the other fellow and is hurting himself. In the town, personnel with pro per vehicles make designated rounds to pick up garbage; others to gather up trash. Hie men and machines are not supposed to han dle both but a very creditable job is done, which gives Edenton a reputation of being one of the cleaniest municipalities anywhere. Chowan County is also in the business of refuse collection, operating a sanitary landfill in con junction with Perquimans County. And while there is a stiff fine for breaking ordinances governing the rfjfpnani at container sites, some citizens show little consideration for their neighbors through flagrant Continued On Page 4 Council Agrees To Reconsider Designating King St. One-Way By Maru Amburn The Town Council, in a special meeting Tuesday, reconsidered their earlier action making a sec tion of King Street one-way. At their regular meeting March 13, the council accepted a proposal by the Public Works Committee to make King Street one-way west bound from Oakum to Broad Street effective April 1. Mayor Roy Harrell and Mayor pro tern Steve Hampton cited com plaints from local merchants and area residents in their decision to bring the matter before the council. “Merchants feel the biggest pro blem is when trucks are loading and unloading’’ on the corner of Broad Street and King Street, the Mayor said. “The DOT (consul tant) problem was with trucks parking on the sidewalk rather than traffic or anything else.” Marina Crummey, Chairman of the Public Works Committee, ad vised that the town “enforce ‘no parking’ signs regardless of deci sion (on making street one-way).” Town Manager Sam Noble suggested that the council call for enforcement of no parking and Clarence Leary, Jr. Leary To Address Local Democrats Clarence Leary, Jr. will be the keynote speaker at the Chowan County Democratic Convention on Saturday, April 14, at 1:00 P.M., Lueta Sellers, County Chairman, announced today. The convention will be held at the Chowan Cour thouse on Broad St. Leary is a past chairman of the Chowan County Democratic Party and has been active in a number of campaigns for candidates and issues. He is currently Chowan County Finance Chairman in Governor James B. Hunt’s race for the U.S. Senate. Leary will be ad dressing the benefits of party uni ty in Chowan County. Heading the convention’s agenda will be the election of ten deletgates to the district and state conven tions. In additon, two members each to the Judicial District, State Senate District, and State House District executive committees will be elected for two year terms. The purpose of these latter committees is to fill vancancies in the respec tive seat if death or resignation oc curs of an elected official. Consideration of a number of resolutions will also be given by the delegates at the County Convention. The resolutions passed by the Coun ty Convention will be forwarded to the Democratic State Platform Committee. Lueta Sellers is representing the First Congressional District on the State Platform Committee. “The county convention is an im portant link in the series of Democratic conventions leading from the precinct up to the National convention,” Chairman Sellers noted. “We hope to elect strong representatives for Chowan Coun ty to the district and state conven tions, and to debate key issues fac ing our county, state and nation.” ~ to | tes inaction siMla loading zone areas for one month to see if that alleviates the traffic problem. The council agreed to delay the April 1 target date pending further study and to enforce parking or dinances all over town. In other business, the council hired Davis & Spivey to act as the guardian ad litem in certain tax foreclosure cases at a rate of $40.00 per hour. Town Attorney Christopher Bean advised the council to hire Davis & Spivey because of a federal govern ment requirement under the Seamen and Shippers Act that guardians must be appointed. Bean noted that he had “talked to Tim (Davis) about it last week.” Council members also recom mended that the mayor express the council’s displeasure with the “weighted vote” under North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency rules. “Six or seven towns out of 32 con trol the vote (of the power agen cy),” Mayor Harrell charged. “Before we are through we hope that all towns have the perogative to vote.” A resolution supporting the one town-one vote policy at NCEMPA meetings passed unanimously. Council members also advised No ble to send copies of the resolution to all 32 towns. The Town Council then entered executive session to discuss the CATV suit. Holley Is Charged In Shooting Death Haywood Perry, 39, of 101 Gale Circle was shot to death in front of the Bluebird Cafe on East. Albemarle St. on Friday, March 23 around 8:40 P.M. The Edenton-Chowan Rescue Squad rushed Perry to Chowan Hospital where he was pronounced dead of a single gunshot wound to the chest. Soon after the shooting, Donald Ray Holley, 27, of 128 E. Albemarle St. turned himself in to Edenton Police. He was charged with murder and placed in Chowan County jail. “They were having an argument over something,’’ said Edenton Police Chief Parrish. Parrish said he did not know what the argument was about. Holley remains in the county jail without bond. A probable cause hearing has been set for April 17. Capt. C.H. Williams, Sgt. G.K. Bonner and Patrolmen L.C. Brothers, Leonard Bonner and Bill Philips were the Edenton police of ficers who aided in the investigation. Annual Testing Now Underway By Maru Amburn Annual testing is underway in grades 1,2,3,6 and 9 in North Carolina public schools, involving over 400,000 of the state’s 1.4 million students. According to Bob Evans, director of the statewide testing programs for the State Department of Public Instruction, tests began during late March and are expected to be com pleted in all school systems by April Scores have maintained or improved each year since the state funded testing began for selected grade levels in the 1977-78 school year Evans said. Many school systems, including the Edenton Chowan system, provide similar testing at other grade levels with local funds. Mary Horton, coordinator of testing for the local school system, said in an interview that Edenton Chowan schools test students at each grade level with the exception of the 10th grade. “Tenth graders take an interest ssggssjy*" " “»w*w**^ *** ^ L FAMILY SCULLING—Gary and Lynn Wooten and their children, Kurt and Erica, enjoy a spring afternoon Monday in their 18 foot boat. The children can even handle the 10 foot oars under the direc tion of their parents. This togetherness exemplifies the goal of FOCUS ON THE FAMILY WEEK March 25-31. Singletary Gets Three Years For Arson By Ron Anderson James David Singletary, the Her ford lawyer who was convicted on four counts of arson in January for burning the Elliott house on Rt. 32, was sentenced to a three year prison term by Judge Elbert Peel, Jr. in Chowan Superior Court on Monday, March 26. The case was appealed and Singletary was disbarred in N.C. The maximum sentence for the four arson charges is 46 years. In the January session of Chowan Superior Court a jury of six men and six women found Singletary guilty of wantonly and willfully burning an uninhabited house; con spiring to burn an uninhabited dwelling; conspiring to burn and burning a building under construc tion; and conspiring to bum and burning a building for fraudulent purposes. On Monday before the sentenc ing, defense attorney, Stephen R. Burch, and special prosecutor Joan Byers, said they had no new evidence to add to the case. In arguments presented prior to sentencing, the lawyers gave their reasons why they felt that Singletary should or should not receive an active prison term. Burch asked the Judge to remember that no aggravating cir cumstances occured as a result of the fire and said that his client was not present when the house was be ing burned. “I feel like it was a case of an at torney being used by a client,” he said. “I don’t think there was any criminal intent and there was no financial gain for my client.” Burch reminded the judge of Singletary’s good reputation in the community that was attested to by numerous character witnesses call ed by Burch during the trial. “It’s very unfortunate that he sits here today convicted of these crimes” the defense attorney said. Burch asked the judge to weigh Singletary as he would any citizen. “The same rules of due-process and ends of justice apply to all,” Burch said. He said that he wanted what was best for the state and said that a prison term for Singletary was not Farless Selected The North Carolina Rural Water Association (NCRWA) last Wednesday selected Graham Farless as a member of its Board of Directors. Farless is Director of the Chowan County Water Department. NCRWA divides the state into four geographic regions with each represented on the Association Board with three directors. Farless was selected as one of the three Board of Directors to repre sent 25 counties in eastern North Carolina. The counties Farless represents are Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Edgecomb, Franklin, Gates, Gran ville, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Mar tin, Nash, Northampton, Pas quotank, Perquimans, Pitt, Tyrell, Vance, Wake, Warren, Washington, and Wilson. Wayne Dickens of Halifax County and Jack Mason of Hyde County will also represent Region I. The theme of the annual two-day Continued On Page 4 in the best interest of the state. He asked for a suspended probationary sentence for his client. State Prosecuting Attorney Joan Byers reminded the court that Singletary was now convicted, no longer only accused, of four courts of arson. She also said that ag gravating circumstances did in fact result from the fire. “There are very few mitigating circumstances present except that Singletary doesn’t have a record,” she said. “What would be good for the state is for Singletary to serve a prison term.” Byers suggested that Singletary learned the tools of arson from “known arsonist Bud Waylan White.” “The general consensus is that a lawyer can get away with anything,” she said. “We should show the public that this is not true, (because) disrespect for the of ficers of the court brings all society down ’. She added that Singletary should be disbarred for bringing shame to the bar. After hearing the arguments, Judge Peel called for a ten minute recess before returning to the courtroom and sentencing Singletary to three years. Besides Singletary, four other men were charged in the June 2, 1982 burning of the Elliott House on Rt. 32. Two of the men, Michell Duke Ivey, 36, Hertford, and Larry Wayne Sanders, 35, Morgans Cor ner, have plead guilty to burning the building. The other two men, Peter Rosen thal and Luckie Douglas Cart wright, 35, Hertford, have yet to be Continued On Page 4 APPRECIATION—On March 26 Jaycees Red Cross Blood Drive Chairman Bruce Wackelin (right) presented Jimmy Bryan, Chowan Hospital Administrator a plaque of appreciation. The pla que is a way of saying thank you to the hospital for providing a per manent site for the Bloodmobile. Voters Must Register Soon Chowan County residents wan ting to vote in the May 8 Democratic and Republican primaries must register by April 9. Only voters registered with their county board of elections as af filiated with the Democratic Party may vote in the Democratic Primary. Voters affiliated with the Republican Party may vote in the Republican Primary. Those persons registered as unaf filiated will be allowed to vote for the Non-Partisan Board of Educa tion only. A voter who wishes to change party affiliation, or who has mov ed since last election, must make that change with the Election Office by the same date. A Chowan County resident may register to vote at the Board of Elections in the Courthouse bet ween 9:00 A.M. and 1:00 P.M. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, or by appointment with a precinct register or judge, or special registration commissioner. Voters should change their registration if they have moved from one precinct to another, mov ed to another address in the same precinct, or had a name change. Any voter who will be out of the county the entire time the polls are open on primary day, or who will be unable to go to the polls because of sickness or disability, may vote by absentee ballot. The voter may apply for an absentee ballot until May 3 at 5:00 P.M. Applicants must be made in person or in writing to the County Board of Elections. Absentee ballots must be return ed to the County Board of Elections office by May 7. The following registrars and judges are authorized to register voters: East Edenton- Mrs. An drew Whitson, Mrs. W.E. Mills, and Mrs. Rudolph Dale; West Edenton Mrs. Carroll W. Jones, Mrs, Michael J. McArthur, and Mrs. DavidO. Wright; Rocky Hock- Mr. Stanley Hege, Mrs. Pat Harrell, and Mr. Paul Ober; Center Hill Mrs. Emmett Jones, Mrs. Glorious Elliott, and Mr. Glenn E. Roger son; Wardville- Mrs. Lester Ray Copeland, Mrs. James Lilly, and Mrs. Lester R. Lane; Yeopim- Mrs. Tom Palmer. Mrs. Sarah Margaret Continued On Page 4
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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March 29, 1984, edition 1
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