THE CHOWAN HERALD
____Published In The Most Beautiful Little City On The North Carolina Coast
Volume 111 ■ No. 391
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, October 9, 1986
Single Copies 25 Cents
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On Bleeding
Same Turnip
Any day now the President will
sign the 1986 Tax Reform bill and
we will, at long last, have a short,
simple, fair revenue code that will
stimulate the economy and gener
ate a sense of well-being along the
Public Parade and elsewhere in
* j the nation.
We doubt it.
When the full impact of this
measure dawns on the middle in
come taxpayer, when he under
stands from looking at his check
book the wonders that have been
wrought for the special interests
through such gimmicks as Tran
j. ' sition Rules written into the bill
" and Technical Corrections that
are sure to come, he will know
that he is again the turnip that has
v been bled.
i The bill is neither short, simple
l or fair. What if it does drop six
i million low income people from
> the tax rolls? They didn’t pay any
tax to begin with. What if it does
^ shift some of the burden to the cor
^ porations? They will recover
every dollar they pay either
through increased prices or out of
the hide of their employees.
What if it does reduce the
number of brackets from 14 to five
‘ in 1987 and to three in 1988? The
number of brackets was not the
problem. It was just as easy to
► look up the effective rate with 14
brackets as it will be with three or
five.
What if it does eliminate some
loopholes that were in the old tax
code? It writes back into the law
$10 billion worth of new loopholes
“• under Transition Rules appended
to the measure to benefit such
special interests as General
W, Motors, Madison Square Garden
Continued On Page 4
Democratic
. Caravan
Scheduled
►
A caravan will soon be rolling
through our area as Democrats
seek to showcase their strength
and candidates for the November
elections.
A memo to First District
Democrats from Cong, and Mrs.
Walter B. Jones and District
Chairman Bill Hodges states,
» “.. we in N.C.’s First Congres
sional District are going to show
the world what the Democratic
Party is all about.”
The caravan leaves Carteret
County on October 15 and winds
its way on an eight day trip
through all of the counties in the
district. Leading the way will be
a bus, the “Democrat Express.”
y The memo asks all Democrats
that can “to join in the trip by
following our caravan for as long
as you can, two miles, 20 miles,
200 miles or eight days.”
The caravan will be met at each
county line by that county’s
Democrats, Democratic leaders
and candidates. After the county
stop, the local Democrats will
y escort the caravan to the next
county line.
Coordinators for Chowan Coun
ty will be George Alma Byrum
and Warren Twiddy according to
County Democratic Chairman
Charles Shaw.
Joining the caravan on October
23 will be former Virginia Gover
nor Charles Robb for a grand
r finale brunch in Dare County. A
rally follows on Oct. 24 in
Elizabeth City and a second rally
will be heldin Kinston on Oct. 25.
Stops in our area will include
Edenton at the courthouse on Oct,
21 for a lunch at 12:30 and stops at
the courthouses on Oct. 22 in Swan
Quarter at 10 a.m.; lunch at noon
in Plymouth and Columbia at 2:30
p.m.
Robert A. Tart
Tart, Guest
Speaker
Robert A. Tart, a member of the
National Executive Committee of
the American Legion, will be
guest speaker at the sixteenth an
nual Chowan County Law En
forcement Officers Appreciation
Banquet.
Tart, a native of Johnston Coun
ty, NC, served in the U.S. Navy
during World War II. He joined
the American Legion soon after
leaving the Navy in 1945 and has
been active in the organization
from that time.
He served two terms as Post
Commander in Benson, NC, was
a District Commander and served
as the NC Department Comman
der in 1967. Tart was elected to the
NEC in 1972 and has represented
the Department of NC on the na
tional level since that time
Active in civic, political a.id
community affairs, Tart is a 33
year member of his local Lions
Club serving two years as presi
dent and six years on the Board of
Directors. He is a Scottish Rite
Mason and a Shriner.
In his community, he has
served as Mayor of the Town of
Benson and has been active in
town and community affairs.
Tart is the owner and operator
of a general insurance agency
established in Benson in 1956. He
is married to the former Annie
Lee Holmes of Benson and the
Tarts have two daughters and one
son.
The banquet and social will be
held at the Edward G. Bond Post
40 of the American Legion on
Thursday evening, October 16.
Tickets for the event are $6 per
person.
NJROTC Loses Vessel
Due To Costly Repairs
By JACK GROVE
The NJROTC unit at John A.
Holmes has lost a valuable part of
its program, the Edenton-Chowan
Board of Education was told at its
meeting last Wednesday evening.
The unit’s training ship, the
America II will no longer be tak
ing the cadets out on Albemarle
Sound on training cruises. Jim
Ryan, LCDR, USN, retired, said
that a survey of the ship, the rein
surance purposes, found some
$30,000 in needed repairs to the
ship’s electrical and engineering
systems.
America II was provided to the
Holmes unit through the efforts of
Congressman Walter B. Jones of
the First District. It is the only
training vessel in the nation
available to an NJROTC unit.
The ship was taken to the
Elizabeth City Shipyard for the
survey where it remains. Asso
ciate School Superintendent Jim
Kinion said Wednesday that the
carrier for the vessel’s at-sea in
surance will not reinstate the
coverage until the repairs are
made. He said that the vessel was
covered by liability insurance as
long as it remains tied up to the
dock.
School officials have attempted
to find temporary insurance for
one trip to return America II to
Edenton but were unsuccessful.
Kinion said that while the ship re
mains at the shipyard, it is incur
ring a monthly dockage fee of $97.
Since funds for such a large
repair bill were not budgeted, the
school board at its Wednesday
meeting asked Ryan to look into
the disposal of America II and
asked School Superintendent John
Dunn to seek a replacement. Kin
ion said that Dunn is currently
seeking-the assistance of Cong.
Jones in his quest.
Board chairman, Cecil Fry said
that Ryan is going through the
necessary administrative pro
cedures in offering the vessel to
the state, returning it to the
federal government, or offering it
for public bid. The first two
avenues must be complied with,
offering the ship free of charge,
before it could legally be sold. At
press time, Kinion said that the
state had already declined the of
fer. He said that the federal
government has not yet replied to
the offer.
School officials said that they
would prefer that any replace
ment ship have a fiberglas or steel
hull. The America II has a wooden
hull. However, Ryan said that
minor repairs were made to the
hull in Elizabeth City and that “It
is in good condition.”
On other matters the board:
• Was given an overview of the
Open Court Reading Program by
Maxine Britt. Three D.F. Walker
teachers reported regarding the
types of activities children are
participating in in kindergarten,
Continued On Page 4
AND CLOWNS TOO—Parades feature floats, bands, horses and
clowns. Saturday’s Peanut Festival parade was no exception.
PEANl TS GANG—"The Peanuts Gang” was the appropriate theme for this float in the annual Peanut
Festival Parade in Edenton Saturday. Tagging along was Snoopy. (More pictures on page IB).
Chowan Beach Road Improvements Discussed
All the spectator seats were oc
cupied for the county commis
sioners meeting in their board
room Monday evening. Most of
the crowd was there to attend a
hearing concerning road im
provements on Tuscarora Trail at
Chowan Beach.
The only paved road is the main
road into that community. The
rest consist of a sandy surface and
are pocked with holes. Resident
Donald Stallings said he cur
culated the petition to the com
missioners requesting that the
county pass a resolution to seek
stabilization of Tuscarora Tr. He
said that of the 22 property owners
whose lots front the street, 17 had
signed.
Property owners on the street
would be assessed a one-time total
of $6,500 for road improvements.
County Manager Cliff Copeland
told the group that this would
amount to no more than $2.45 per
foot of property and payment
could be spread over five years.
Stallings told the board that the
road had deteriorated since 1970
when he bought his property. He
said that cars are being driven
over private property lines to
avoid holes in the road.
Disputing Stallings’ conten
tions, another resident, Kathleen
Houseden said, “I see nothing
wrong with Tuscarora Trail.
Ken Dunbar said that his fami
ly has owned pxpperty at Chowan
Beach since 1960 and “If you ask
me, there’s nothing wrong with
Large Crowd Turns Out At Fish Fry For Candidate Spruill
Friends, supporters, and some
undecided voters turned out at a
fish fry at the American Legion
building Thursday evening to
meet with Republican candidate
for Chowan County Sheriff, Fred
Spruill.
Chamber of Commerce presi
dent, Chuck Smith, led off a round
of speakers after the dinner. He
teamed the some 200 attendees,
“An outstanding crowd. It’s real
ly exciting seeing all these people
out tonight.” He then asked Mar
sha Crandall to read aloud her let
ter of support for Spruill that was
published in last week’s edition of
the Chowan Herald.
Richard Dixon told the crowd,
“Fred Spruill will give 100 percent
and demand 100 percent for his
department. We need a sheriff in
Chowan County that will work
with the people,” he asserted.
Another supporter, Carlton Nix
on said, “I’m supporting him
because I know he’s qualified.”
Nixon cited Spruill’s continuing
training in law enforcement on the
Edenton police force.
Smith summed up his remarks
with, “He’s a super example—he
leads by example. Fred Spruill is
POLITICAL FISH FRY—A Fish Fry was held Thursday evening in the campaign for sheriff of Fred
Spruill (R). Shown at the fry are (1. to r.) Thomas Simpson, Spruill, Richard Dixon and Clinton Cherry.
a Chowan County native.''
The candidate then took the
stage to outline his goals:
• Training—citing a need for in
creased training, he said, “Train
ing doesn’t cost that much—just
meals and transportation and
training is important.”
• 911 Emergency No.—He said
that everyone in the town and
county would benefit by having a
single three-digit number to use in
an emergency;
• Drugs—“You can get any kind
of drug in Chowan County you
want. We need everyone to get in
volved in solving this problem. It
takes the people to help solve this
problem;”
• Common communication sys
tem for the various law enforce
ment agencies—He said that of
ficers now have to use scanners in
order to hear radio communica
tions from other branches of law
enforcement; and
• Cooperation—“We need to
maintain the good working rela
tionship between all the law en
forcement agencies. We have a
good relationship and I want to
continue that.”
In fielding questions from the
audience, Spruill was asked if the
number of deputies currently with
the department was adequate. He
responded that he felt the sheriff’s
department was adequately
manned but, “I’ll fight for more
deputies if the need is there."
the roads. This is a countrified
place.” Board Chairman Alton
Elmore asked Dunbar if his pro
perty was on the road in question
and was told that it wasn’t. The
chairman asked that further
remarks be confined to those
whose property was on the street.
An argument ensued among
property owners and centered on
the actions of the Chowan Beach
Continued On Page 4
Governor James Martin
Republican
Breakfast Slated
Governor James Martin will be
in Edenton, Saturday, October
11th for a campaign breakfast,
Republican Congressional Can
didate Howard Moye has an
nounced. Martin will be cam
paigning for Howard Moye, 1st
District Congressional candidate
and Republicans Shirley Perry,
State House candidate, Timothy
Hodges, State Senate candidate
and Fred Spruill, Sheriff can
didate in Chowan County.
Martin will appear at a
breakfast at 8:00 a.m. at the
Golden Corral on Virginia Road
(Highway 32) in Edenton. Tickets
are $5.00 and are available from
Shirley Perry 297-2688, in Per
quimans County, Fred Spruill and
Ann Ellis (482-8811) Chowan Coun
ty, Earl Rountree (465-8354) in
Gates County, Timothy Hodges,
(926-3531), in Hyde County, and in
Beaufort County, Rebecca Clay
ton (946-7700), and Steve Rader
(946-5790). Tickets will also be
available at the door.