t THE CHOWAN HERALD Published In The Most Beautiful Little City On The North Carolina Coast Volume LLIII - No. 20 Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, May 14, 1987 Single Copies 25 Cents Watergate Revisited What did the President know and when did he know it? I That was the burning question during the Watergate hearings a dozen years ago and, ironically enough, it is still the question to be answered during the current hear ings into the Iran-Contra scandal. »But there is a difference. Nixon kpew what the President knew ajid when he knew it, while Reagan is waiting to find out how much he knew and when, v And, oddly enough, our current President finds himself in this ufihappy predicament, not so niuch for what he did, but because h£ failed to heed the voice of ex perience from the past. ;Soon after the arms-for hostages story broke, Richard Njxon advised Ronald Reagan to admit his administration had_ lade a mistake, however well in ltioned, and get on with the siness of cleaning house and ling the government. 'That was a course of action Richard Nixon, no doubt, had told iself a hundred times he should }ve taken as soon as Watergate oke. Instead, he and his staff cl|ose to stonewall each new development, hoping to be able to hang on until the storm passed; but, instead of saving their own jobs, they barely escaped with the sljin on their backs. iThus, despite the fact that he h^d been returned to office by a tlandslide, Richard Nixon escaped impeachment by becoming the irst President to resign from of fice; and he escaped prison by striking a deal with his successor. Advice from a friend so well grounded in experience should never be taken lightly. But Ronald Reagan mistook his own populari ty as a license shielding him from having to account for the waywardness of his subordinates. He seemed to think that if he pooh poohed the news media and told a cock-and-bull story about efforts to re-establish a working relation ship with Iran, the people would swallow it all, the press would be discredited and he would emerge bigger than ever. His discovery that that was not going to be the case must have Continued On Page 4 By JEANETTE WHITE Saturday in Hertford was a day to be tucked into the memory and recalled in country stores on cold, ivinter nights * but ‘‘Catfish” would have “rather been farming”. Perquimans County planned Jimmy (Catfish) Hunter Day to T CATERPILLARS EVERYWHERE—The forest tent caterpillar seemed to be everywhere as an “outbreak” of the insects covered many area porches, sidewalks and yards this week. Caterpillars Prove A Nuisance Chowans and Perquimans residents have been puzzled, con cerned and- downright angry about an infestation of the forest tent caterpillar in recent days One man in Perquimans reported ly even resorted to the use of a blow torch to eradicate them on his house. A fact sheet on the insects, ob tained froip the Chowan Agriculture Extension Office, points out that they are found throughout the U.S. and Canada. They are hairy, have a dark mottl ed stripe down the back with a a' ■ •'r "A-- ■ .. s,' I series of keyhole-shaped white dots and pale blue lines on the sides. Dr. James R. Baker, en tomologist at N.C. State, was in terviewed by telephone Tuesday. “It seems as though your area of the statdhas more than in years past,” he observed. Baker said that Martin County had “more than usual,” two years ago. He said that insect infestations are totally unpredictable. “Sometimes an outbreak will last for several years before it sub Continued On Page 4 Expansion Is Planned For Edentori Hatchery it ail goes as planned, more than $7 million will trickle into the Edenton economy over the next two years from expansion of the National Fish Hatchery on West Queen Street. Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, said Saturday that $350,000 will come from the General Fund to the dipt, of Natural Resources and Community Development for the 1987-88 fiscal year and a like amount the following year. The monies will be used as matching funds for federal money needed for the expansion upon passage of the bill. The senator sponsored the bill and worked with Cong. Walter B. Jones, D-Farmville chairman of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, to get the bill into legislation. The commit tee added its share of funds in the fiscal 1988 budget and contacted the Div. of Marine Fisheries for its share to be ready. Sen. Basnight said although plans are well underway, “I still have to sell it”. Total site expansion and rehabilitation costs are 17,183,400, with additional one-time equip ment costs set at $150,000 for a fish stocking unit capable of hauling large numbers of striped bass and fish tagging equipment.. Addi tional operating and maintenance costs of $95,000 for the expanded facility include fish food, electrici ty and three additional full-time employees. The expansion would provide approximately 250,000. six-to-eight inch additional striped bass rais ed by the hatchery annually. Last year the hatchery produc ed 1,250,000 “fingerlings.” and *240,000 six- to eight-inch bass. If the planned expansion materializes, the first $350,000 will be spent on initial earthwork and engineering. Even though the town will get benefit from expansion of the hat chery, the $7 million addition will not help the tax base since the federally-owned hatchery is ex empt from taxes. By JACK GROVE With the recent completion of the new county water treatment plant at Valhalla, 2,995 customers with a usage of 15 million gallons per month were serviced last month. In comparison, the water A SOUTHERN YANKEE—Jimmy (Catfish) Hunter (left), shown with his family, was honored Satur day in Hertford with a celebration, including a parade, program and free barbecue for everyone. 'Catfish' Is Honored By Friends, Fans honor its native son and his induc tion into baseballs’ Hall of Fame July 26 in Cooperstown, N.Y. But Hunter, described by his peers as a humble man, seemed overwhelmed by the outpouring of attention. The celebration began with a parade, which took participants to a program on the ballfield where Hunter began his career. Personal friends, . career associates and former schoolmates told stories from Hunter’s past, everyone was treated to a free barbecue (which Hunter helped code beginning at 3:30 a.m.) and the day ended after a ballgame with Hunter pitching for the Old-Timers’ team against the Perquimans' Pirates. When the day was planned, Hunter agreed to the parade with Businesses Receive Nod New businesses will be opening ,in Edenton as a result of town council action Tuesday night. Council approved rezoning re quests to change two plats from residential-agricultural to highway-commercial after they were unanimously approved by the Planning Board. James W. Smith, president of I Cavalier Confections, Inc. re quested that the property leased by his company and formerly known as E.J.’s be reconed. The ! company plans to manufacture peanut brittle for national distribution. The other parcel is adjacent to the Colonial Motel and the request was made by Jimmie M. Parrish. He stated that the purpose of the rezoning was to open a retail hard Contlaued On Page 4 the condition that the school band and his hunting buddies be includ ed. The parade was planned with the first section to offer a salute from baseball, the center was a salute from hunting, fishing and farming and the end of the parade was a salute from the county. During the program, associates said Hunter skipped the minor leagues when he finished high school and American Legion baseball and went on to 15 years with Kansas City, Oakland and the New York Yankees. When he retired, he had won 224 games and lost 166, had one perfect game against the Min nesota Twins and played in three world series. Continued On Page 4 AUTOMATED SYSTEM—Graham Farless, director of the Chowan water department, explains auto mated controls for the new Valhalla treatment plant to Edenton utilities director W.A. (Hawk) Crummey and Rev. William Ansell. A ribbon cutting ceremony at the plant was held Monday morning. Valhalla Plant Ribbon-Cutting Is Held department began operation in January, 1976 with 1,573 customers and a per month usage of 5.5 million gallons. At ribbon cutting ceremonies at Valhalla Monday, officials traced the history of the county system. Commission Board Chairman Alton Elmore praised the cooperation received from Per quimans and Gates Counties and the Town of Edenton who “sold us water for the last two years.” Gates provided two million gallons per month, and Per quimans and Edenton each con tributed one million per month. Simultaneously, the Valhalla plant was operating continuously and producing 200 gallons per minute attempting to keep up with demand. Elmore said that the system ac tually began when R.M^ (Pete) Thompson, then county extension agent, and local farmers indicated a need for a county system. Bonds were issued after a referendum and the system was planned to ac commodate 2,000 customers by the year 2000. Saying Commissioner A1 Phillips was a “key part of this back in 1974,” Elmore introduced Phillips. In his remarks, Phillips said, “I think it (water system) is of paramount importance to the county for the quality of life.” He praised the “professionalism” of water system employees who run the highly automated plant which can now produce 800 gallons per minute. County Manager Cliff Copeland said that the new plant cost $1.2 million, financed with $750,000 in Community Development Grant funds with the remainder coming from state water and sewer grant money and accumulated reserves from the county water system. He cited the “irony” of the in creased capacity of the system during the wettest spring in years compared with the drought last spring during diminished system capacity. Trawlers Are Evicted The controversial trawlers fishing in Albemarle Sound are gone. The trawlers moved into the sound for the first time this year after a poor harvest from home ports around Pamlico Sound in duced fishermen to hunt for more abundant harvest. The presence of trawlers up to 90-feet long sparked an organized protest from Albemarle fisher men, who said the big boats were depleting crab and finfish and destroying native fishing grounds. Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, said Saturday that the trawlers were ordered out of Albemarle Sound, effective Sunday. “They should never have got up there in the first place, I don’t know how it happened,” the senator said. Basnight said protests from area fishermen caused him to call “everyone who had any input and ask them to get the trawlers out immediately”. Harrel Johnson, northern district manager of the N.C. Div. of Marine Fisheries, said in a telephone interview Wednesday that a petition was prepared and delivered to the Marine Fisheries Commission, which in turn polled its executive committee and sus pended a portion of the regula tions governing the trawlers. The committee will now take another look at those regulations and make a decision on whether the trawlers will be allowed back into Albemarle Sound. “I think it (suspension) was needed. There was a lot of conflict out there and emotions were building on that issue,” Johnson Continued On Page 4 . i &&&&& - - v *> Facing THE JUDGE—Emily Irby, m prison stripes, watches as Edenton Police Officer Chuck Alex inder relates to “Judge” Pete Dail the charges against Chuck Smith in last week’s annual Cancer Socie y Jail-A-Thon.

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