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Well, Congress has passed a bill
liberalizing federal gun control
) laws and it is difficult for us to find
much wrong with the legislation
itself; but even among supporters
of the National Rifle Association
position there must be some who
are asking themselves if it is good
to have the legislative branch of
government so subservient to any
political action group.
Until the nation’s police
organizations intervened in force,
both houses of Congress seemed
. willing to jump through the hoop
at the NRA’s bidding. Indeed, on
Wednesday the house concurred
with the provision in the senate
passed bill which would have
removed restrictions on the in
terstate sale and transportation of
handguns.
But, with the arrival of uniform
ed police from 21 states on Thurs
day, describing that provision of
the law as a “cop killer,” the
house reversed itself and adopted
an amendment banning interstate
' sales of handguns, 233-to-184.
Among those 233 were Reps.
Walter B. Jones of the First
District, Steve Neal of the Fifth
District and Charles G. Rose of
the Third District.
All of the Republicans from
North Carolina voted against the
amendment, as did the other three
. Democrats. Indeed, one of the
Republicans, Rep. J. Alex
McMillan of the Ninth District,
was so anxious to get the legisla
tion on the books that he signed a
*; petition to discharge the commit
tee to which it had been assigned
so that it could come directly to
the floor without going through the
hearing process.
What makes that action so
noteworthy is that Rep. McMillan,
a freshman member from
Charlotte, was a darling of the
NRA’s Political Action Commit
' tee, leading all other members of
the North Carolina delegation in
the amount of PAC contributions
he received.
Had we been in Congress, we
probably would have voted for
liberalizing the shotgun and rifle
provisions; but we would not have
accepted NRA financial contribu
) tions while action on the bill was
pending. That is what raises the
question about the independence
of Congress, the third leg of the
organizational stool on which our
system rests. If members can be
bought, even while the debate is in
progress, then we are in danger of
being left trying to balance a two
legged stool.
v) What is the role of the individual
voter in all this? It is simply that
he must be alert to the fact that he
often becomes the innocent tool of
such groups as the NRA which do
not stop with direct contributions
to Congressmen, but invade the
districts to oppose candidates who
try to remain aloof from the
special interest groups.
) The NRA, for example, was not
content with helping Rep.
McMillan’s campaign with cash
Continued On Page 4
Police Chief
Will Remain
Edenton Town Ad
ministrator Sam Noble an
nounced late Tuesday that
Police Chief J. D. Parrish has
withdrawn his letter of
Resignation. The resignation
was to have been effective
May 2.
Parrish, a veteran of some
24 years on the police force,
said he felt very comfortable
with his decision not to resign.
He said the decision came
following much thought and
concern. /
Noble stated that he and
f«*f Parrish have developed
an excellent working i
Board Plans Nursing |
Facility Replacement |
The Chowan Hospital Board of
Directors has announced plans to
replace its 56-bed skilled nursing
facility with a new 40-bed wing at
tached to the hospital.
The announcement stated, “In
a continuing effort to provide area
residents with modem facilities,
the Board of Directors establish
ed a Long-Range Planning Com
mittee composed of Board
members, Medical Staff, county
and city officials, and members
from surrounding counties. This
committee was charged with
reviewing and projecting the
needs of the hospital for the next
five (5) years.”
The first goal of the Planning
Committee is to replace the aging
56-bed skilled nursing unit with a
40-bed skilled nursing unit attach
ed to the hospital.
The Planning Committee, in
reviewing the current needs of the
service area of Chowan Hospital,
forecast a need of only 40 beds, as
the State has awarded Certificates
of Need to Bertie County for 100
extended care beds, to
Washington County for 90 extend
ed care beds, and to the
Gates/Perquimans County area
for 106 extended care beds. In
cluded in the number of extended
care beds are 137 skilled nursing
beds.
The reasoning behind the deci
sion to build a new wing, as oppos
ed to renovating the existing unit,
was attributed to several factors.
Foremost of these is cost. To
renovate the aging facility to
bring it up to State standards
would cost $2,056,000 in 1984
dollars (The Plan was finalized in
1984.) A replacement wing would
cost $1,500,000.
Other reasons for considering a
replacement facility were
economies of operation, person
nel, and utilities.
In order to finance the construc
tion of the new wing, the Board
concluded that with the current
lower interest rates it would be in
the best interest of the hospital to
refinance the $2,500,000 1982
Revenue Bond Issue of 13.2% with
a $4,765,000 1986 Revenue Bond
Issue at approximately 8*/2%.
With refinancing the 1982 Bond
Issue, the hospital would save ap
proximately $700,000 in interest
cost on these Bonds.
The proposed addition would
join the present acute hospital on
the northwest facing Virginia
Road and the Methodist Church
Continued On Page 1
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SITE PLAN
%THE CHOWAN HERALD
Volume XLX - No. 16
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, April 17, 1986
Single Copies 25 Cents
LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST—School Board Chairman Cecil Fry,
Superintendent John Dunn, Representative Vernon James, Represen
tative Charles Evans and Board Member John Mitchener, III (1. to r.)
at the recent Legislative Breakfast held at Boswell’s Restaurant.
Improvements Discussed
A Legislative Breakfast was
held recently at Boswell’s
Restaurant and attended by state
Representatives Vernon James
and Charles Evans and state
Senator Marc Basnight. The pur
pose of the meeting was to inform
the legislators of the physical im
provement needs of Edenton
Chowan Schools and to tell them
about the pilot Career Ladder
Teachers Program.
In addition to the legislators,
those attending were Carolyn
Forehand, Itay Cherry, Linda
Williams, Sandra Phillips, Bren
da Winbome, Catherine Russell,
Alice Jones (candidate for school
board), Principal Gil Underwood,
Florence Thatch, Christine Flem
ing, Jim Kinion, Maxine Britt,
Principal Jake Boyce, John
Guard, Board member John. Mit-.
chener, Board Chairman Cecil
Fry, Board Member Jim Taylor,
Principal Rob Boyce, Superinten
dent John Dunn, Principal Clara
Boswell, Principal Ralph Cole and
Walter Noneman.
Superintendent John Dunn ex
plained the capital improvement
needs for Edenton-Chowan
Schools and some of the
possibilities of funding these
needs. He explained the extreme
needs to get our local school
physical facilities up to standard
and the difficulty in doing this by
local funding. He said that some
source of funding must be found.
Senator Marc Basnight stated
that, "I support the *■,» Sales Tax
to schools in its entirety.”
Kay Cherry acting as
spokesperson for the local Career
Ladder Steering Committee made
many positive comments on the
Career Ladder Program. She ex
plained that this program is get
ting a very favorable response
locally with the program being a
just reward for our dedicated
teachers. The end result is that
students benefit by better
Continued On Page 4
Area Citizens Meet State Candidates
Pete Thompson
Chowan County resident, R. M.
“Pete” Thompson has begun an
intensified campaign for the
Democratic nomination for a seat
in the State House of Represen
tatives. Thompson said that he
was “going to hit the road" begin
ning this week and for the next
three weeks.
He said that he had been in
every county in the First Congres
sional District at least four times
to date and that the pace will
dramatically increase prior to
May 6.
Thompson said, “I have really
enjoyed the campaign. I've seen
people I haven't seen in several
years. I like coffee and I have en
joyed a lot of coffee with a lot of
nice people.”
In commenting on government,
he said that he felt that the area's
citizens had been well served both
locally and by the Legislature in
Raleigh. He went on to say,
“Voters want more local control
by local officials. This gives faster
Continued On Page I
Harry Brinkley Schiffman
One candidate who is ready to
debate the issues is Harry
Brinkley Schiffman, a Manteo
businessman. During an inter
view last week in Edenton, Schiff
man said that he felt that a
televised panel discussion among
the six Democrat candidates for
TALKS TO VOTERS—Shelia Bootwright talks to candidate Harry
Brinkley Schiffman during his stopover in Edenton last week.
the N.C. House of Representatives
would be a public service for area
voters.
He said that a representative of
WITN-TV, Channel 7 in
Washington, N.C. termed it “a
great idea." Schiffman said that
he had been in touch with incum
bent Vernon James who also lik
ed the idea.
WITN newsman Joe Corcoran,
contacted Wednesday morning,
Continued On Page l
Sam Walker
One candidate who has been
running a fast-paced campaign
for the State Legislature is Sam
Walker from Currituck County
where he owns a food store. One
day recently, he was seen at
Whiteman’s Store; Murray Nix
on’s Fishery; at Small's
Crossroads; in the fields talking to
farmers; at Peele’s Fish Market;
and in the downtown area of
Edenton. When interviewed, he
said that he had been completely
through the district more than 30
times.
He was overheard being asked
by a voter if he was running
against Pete Thompson. Walker's
reply was, “No, I’m running with
him." He told another, “I’d like
one of your votes. ” In response to
a bewildered look, he explained
that each voter has the option of
voting for two candidates in the
Continued On Page 4
/ 1 W ■■■■km.fi
GETTING AROUND—N.C. House of Representatives candidate Pete
Thompson hands out his cards and talks to area voters at Griffin Music
Center Friday.
X
V SK / ,1 i
CAMPAIGNING- Sam Walker, Candidate for the N.C. Legislature,
stops to talk with local jeweler, Russell Davis during a recent cam
paign swing through Chowan County and Edenton.