Volume XLIX - No. 51
Edenton, North Carolina. Thursday, January 30, 1986
Single Copies 25 Cents
Nuclear Waste Disposal
It is unlikely that Chowan Coun
ty will ever be considered an ap
propriate site for a high-level
nuclear waste storage facility.
For that reason we should all con
sider ourselves fortunate.
But that is not to say that all
North Carolina ought to be con
sidered off-limits for such pro
jects. Sooner or later, one or more
will be located in our state.
After all, North Carolina is one
of the prime generators of such
byproducts, not only at our
several nuclear power plants, but
at our medical facilities. Up to
now, we have had the good fortune
to be able to ship this material
away for storage in other states,
primarily South Carolina,
Alabama and Washington.
The time is fast approaching,
however, when these states are
going to refuse to accept any high
level nuclear waste generated out
side their borders. In anticipation
of that event, the federal govern
ment for more than a decade has
been developing long range plans
for underground disposal sites for
such waste.
Suitability of geologic struc
Continued On Page 4
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Award Banquet Held
The Edenton Jaycees held their
annual Distinguished Service
Award Banquet last Thursday
evening. Honored this year was
Morris Small, City Executive of
Tar Heel Bank. Small is a 1973
graduate of the College of the
Albemarle.
The honoree was cited for ac
complishments and participation
in many areas which include:
president of the Chiowan County
Medical Development Authority;
Key Banker for Chowan County;
Deacon, past usher and Sunday
School Teacher, and choir
member of the Edenton Baptist
Church; 1977 Jaycee Faith in God
Award while chaplain of the local
chapter; current treasurer and
past president of his chapter; Of
ficer of the Year for the Edenton
Jaycees last year; recipient of the
Jaycee Presidential Award of
Honor; and past chairman for
four years each of the Chowan
County Heart Fund and Cancer
Fund.
The guest speaker for the occa
sion was Jerry Wall, state Presi
dent of the Jaycees. Wall praised
Small for holding the office of
treasurer for 1985-86 after having
served as president of the group
wrrtiitMMt-Mrr-.
in 1977-78. “I think that’s outstan
ding. Morris, I want to thank you
for that,” he said.
Wall praised the ac
complishments of the Edenton
Jaycees and went on the say, “I
think the greatest thing that’s hap
pened to us is the ladies coming in
to this organization in 1984.”
The state president told the
group that some have said that the
volunteer spirit is dying in North
Carolina. He said that you only
have to look to the ac
complishments of the Jaycees
around the state to know that that
isn’t true.
He cited such things as
“Jaycees helping the elderly keep
warm,” shooter education pro
grams for kids; the burn center;
a youth basketball program for
youth in the southeast; “a lot of
little things here and there.”
“Right here in Edenton, you’ll
find them selling jelly and helping
a bloodmobile.” He also said the
Jaycees are helping raise funds
for cystic fibrosis, parks and
playgrounds.
Wall said of the organization,
“It’s a lot of people. People run
projects. The reason we’re doing
more is because we’ve got those
Continued On Page 4
SEEN DIMLY— Snow all but obscures the Cupola House Monday morning. The winter storm dumped
about an inch of snow on the area as arctic air from Siberia swept across Canada and into Chowan Coun
ty’s front yard. Temperatures in parts of the County were recorded at 10 degrees Monday night. The
weather service reports moderating temperatures for at least the next few days.
Area Joins Nation Mourning Shuttle Loss
By Jack Grove
Reactions of disbelief and shock
were heard around Edenton on
Tuesday as word spread, and peo
ple gathered around televisions to
see, the explosion of the space
shuttle Challenger. The
catastrophe was not seen on live
TV by most adults, and word of it
Anne Elizabeth Vaughan
Leadership
Participant
Anne Elizabeth Vaughan, a stu
dent at John A. Holmes High
School, will be one of 125 high
school juniors from across
Eastern North Carolina to par
ticipate in a Rotary Youth Leader
ship Conference at the Ramada
Inn in Ahoskie. The conference,
sponsored by the 100 Rotary dubs
of District 771 and 773, will be con
ducted February 28 through
March 2.
Continued On Page 4
first came to many over the radio.
“Dozens of people came in to
watch” at Pickwick around noon
according to an employee there
who asked not to be identified. A
sampling of reactions to the
mishap included, “Shock - but
‘I’m not surprised;” “Gave me
the chills;” “Oh no;” and
“Disbelief.”
across the country including one
entitled “The Ultimate Field
trip.” Among the seven on board
the shuttle was Christa McAullife,
(a high school teacher from Con
cord, New Hampshire.
. Gil Underwood, principal of
•White Oak School said that “about
Jhalf” of his students watched the
flaunch. He said that teachers had
••received lesson plans for the
teaching in space from NASA
recently.
The children exhibited some
bewilderment at the event as
evidenced by one kindergarten
child who maintained that
everyone in the shuttle had died
but the school teacher.
Underwood said that the school
staff was talking with the children
on Wednesday, attempting to put
the tragedy in perspective for
them. He said that the children
were being told “that in life there
are risks and dangers. There are
The shuttle carried a school
teacher for the first time who was
to teach two lessons to students
He said that the dialogue will
continue with the students to help
them understand and cope with
Continued On Page 4
DSA AWARD — Morris Small, City Executive of Tar Heel Bank in Edenton holds a plaque com
memorating his selection as the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award of the Edenton Jaycees.
With him and his wife Susan and parents, Mr. and Mrs. Morris Small, Sr.
Association Board Members Elected
Two Chowan County men have
been elected to three-year terms
Van Hecke
Speaker
The Chowan County
Democratic Women have an
nounced that James M. Van
Hecke, Chairman of the N.C.
Democratic Party, will be the
guest speaker at their February
meeting.
Van Hecke, 38, who succeeds
Wade M. Smith, was elected
January 11, 1986. He is a
Greensboro businessman and has
vowed to lead the party to success
in the crucial 1986 election.
, Bill Hodges. JEixst District
Chairman, will also be at the
meeting. County Democratic
leaders, businessmen and State
Representatives from the District
are being invited (dutch treat).
Pansy A. Elliott, president of
the group, said, “We are being
honored by having our State
Chairman visit us in Edenton and
expect a big turnout. Please
come.”
The meeting will be held in the
Carolina Room of Gaslight Square
on Tuesday, February 4, at noon.
Reservations should be made by
5:00 p.m., Friday, January 31 by
calling Mrs. West (Pattie) Byrum
at 482-4068.
The business portion of the
meeting will concern considera
tion of the nominating committee
report and election of officers.
on the 30-man Board of Directors
of the North Carolina Soybean
Producers Association. They were
among ten named to the board
during the nineteenth annual
membership meeting of the
association held in Raleigh on
January 17.
Fenton T. Eure, Jr., prominent
Chowan County farmer and seed
man was one of those named.
Eure has a diversified farming
operation which includes soy
beans, cotton, wheat, corn,
peanuts, hogs and cattle. He also
operates a custom seed cleaning
business and produces certified
Seed.
Eure also is active in many
organizations, including Kuritan,
Perquimans Chamber of Com
merce, Hertford Savings and
Loan, Albemarle Cotton Co-Op
and the N.C Seedsmens
Association.
Eure and his wife, Margie, are
parents of a son and daughter and
the family members are active in
Rocky Hock Baptist Church.
H. Clark Peele, a native of
Chowan County and graduate of
Chowan High School was also
elected. Peele is a well-known
Continued On Page 4
Candidates Continue Filing
New names continue to appear
on the rolls of candidates for
political office. As of January 29,
three names have been added to
the ever-growing list for the May
6 Primary.
Norman E. Bunch, who lives at
Rt. 1, Box 302, Edenton (Rocky
Hock), joined an already crowd
ed Sheriff’s race Wednesday mor
ning. Bunch, who has never held
political office, is a farmer and
commercial fisherman. He filed
in the Democratic column.
Also filing for Sheriff this past
week was Delvin Earl Jethro, an
Edenton police officer who filed as
a Democratic candidate. Jethro,
who lives at Rt. 4, Edenton, is the
second Edenton policeman to run
for Sheriff. The first was Fred A.
Spruill who filed as a Republican.
Jethro was a write-in candidate
for Sheriff four years ago.
The field of candidates for
Sheriff also includes E.C. Toppin,
the first to file, and Chowan Coun
ty Deputy Sheriff Wayne S. Rice.
Another newcomer is Paul E.
Chappell of Rt. 1, Tyner. Chappell
has filed for the third township
seat being vacated by Eugene Jor
dan. To date, he faces no
opposition.
All of the positions to be decid
ed in the Primary and the General
Election in November now have at
least on aspirant.
A complete slate of candidates
will be published in next week’s
edition of the Chowan Herald.
Deadline for filing is Monday,
February 3 at noon
Satellite Broadcast Scrambling Causes Controversy Locally
Dish Owner and Cable Executive Disagree
Owners of satellite dishes have
lost a “freebie” and may soon be
losing more, according to the
president of the Albemarle Cable
TV Company. Time-Life, Inc.,
parent company of the Home Box
Office and Cinemax TV channels,
scrambled their signals last week
so that owners of satellite anten
na systems (dishes) receive a
useless signal from the Galaxy I
communications satellite parked
22,400 miles above the earth.
In a telephone interview from
his office in Erie, Pennsylvania,
Vincent Ridikas, executive of
Albemarle Cable TV said that this
was deemed necessary to prevent
“widespread interception” of the
HBO and Cinemax signals. He
said that Congress had recently
passed a “private cable act” that
“allows anyone to intercept as
long as the intercept is paid for.”
He said, that technically, anyone
intercepting any of these satellite
signals without paying for them is
a lawbreaker.
An Arrowhead Beach resident
takes issue with many of the
assertions of the cable industry,
however. Wayne Ziemba is not
upset that HBO and Cinemax are
now scrambled. He feels that a
fair price should be paid by dish
owners due to the fact that these
channels are commercial free.
Ziemba differs however on what
is a fair price. Ridikas says that
his company has descramblers
(or decoders) available for pur
chase by the public for $395. Ad
ditionally, the dish owner would
be required to pay $12.95 per
month for either HBO or Cinemax
(or $19.95 per month for a package
of the two). Ziemba doesn’t feel
Continued On Page 4
Satellite Dish Retailers Present Their Side
Battle lines are torming over
the issue of scrambling TV signals
from satellites in space. On the
one hand are pay-TV and cable
TV companies and on the other
are satellite dish retailers and
private owners of the receivers.
Extensive interviews with Bob
Daughety of Atlantic Satellite
Systems on U.S. 17 So., Elizabeth
City; and Jerry Williams,
manager of the Plymouth office of
Stories and Photo by Jack Grove
COMMON SIGHT—Satellite dishes are becoming a common sight in
the country as rural residents seek to receive better programming and
signals in areas not served by cable TV. This picture was taken near
Valhalla.
Coastal Satellite Systems have put
the issue in perspective from the
dealer’s viewpoint. The accompa
nying article presents the view
points of the private dish owner
and the president of a local cable
TV company.
According to Daughety, HBO
and Cinemax, pay-TV program
mers, decided several years ago
to scramble their signals due to
the “pirating” being done by
businesses such as motels and
condominiums. Daughety made
available an “Open Letter*to
Owners of Home Satellite
Systems” published by HBO, Inc.
The letter first explains the in
terception of their signals by
motels and other businesses
“without permission and without
charge.”
“This is a violation of the
copyrights of artists and
businesses with whom we have
contractual agreements to pro
vide programming. Signal
scrambling is the best way to pro
tect these copyrights” the letter
says.
The letter continues, “At HBO,
we are careful to distinguish bet
ween the legitimate reception of
our signals by individual satellite
system owners and theft by corn
continued On Page 4