Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / Aug. 6, 1987, edition 1 / Page 1
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Published In The Most Beautiful Little City On The North Carolina Coast | Volume LLIII.- No._32 Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, August 6, 1987 Single Copies 25 Cents If I Reagan and Reality President Ronald Reagan, who has never submitted a balanced budget to Congress, is still going about the country beating his old tax-and-spend strawman. Mean } while his own borrow-and-spend policy is alive and well. Thus, instead of being in Washington, working effectively with Congress in its effort to adopt a budget which makes a small dent in the growth of the deficit, he is in fact trying to alienate the people from Congress, driving a bigger and bigger wedge between I the legislative and administrative branches of the government. Recognizing that the President has been in a difficult position dur ing the congressional inquiry into the Iran-Contra initiatives, we have refrained from criticizing him during the course of the hear ings. But if he feels it is more im portant to rebuild his political im 9 age than to work constructively with Congress, then, so far as we are concerned, that immunity has been dissolved. But, just now, we are not con cerned with what the President knew about the diversion of funds to the Contras or, which is just as bad, what he didn’t know. We are ^ not concerned with whether he is 9 running a potted plant presidency, whether he has become a lame duck or whether he is still riding tall in the saddle. We are concerned about the federal deficit, which continues to '-grow ■atra rate'wlfMi ifHffcHS m#* Gramm-Rudman act’s mandated cuts inadequate. Despite inflation £ and rising unemployment, Jimmy Carter had managed to hold the deficit to $59 billion during his last year in office, when the national debt stood at $914.3 billion. By 1983 under Ronald Reagan, the annual deficit had risen to $195.4 billion, with the national debt standing at $1,381 trillion. But it didn’t stop there. By 1985 the annual deficit B had soared to $202.8 billion and the debt to $1,823 trillion. Today the deficit is running at $220 billion a year and the debt limit has just been raised to $3 trillion, with the annual interest running at some $150 billion. Ronald Reagan blames all that on a spendthrift Congress, forget ting that his party was in control P of the senate until 1987. What he needs to face up to is the fact that he is as responsible for the debt as anyone else. He needs to recognize that our global com mitments are straining our resources. President Eisenhower said, on Continued On Page 4 COME ON IN—George Drawdy opens the door to the Rocky Hock Grocery after County Manager Cliff Copeland cut a ceremonial ribbon. At left is Jack Evans, president of the Rocky Hock Ruritans and Mrs. Drawdy. I School Board Policies Are Again Questioned By JEANETTE WHITE Edenton-Chov/an ucard of Education was beset with pro blems again Monday night when questions on hiring procedures resurfaced, along with hints of legal action and misuse of employee funds. Controversy over the board’s hiring procedures surfaced last month when Billy Nixon was nam ed as transportation director, replacing retired Marvin Hobbs. Some residents said the hiring was unethical, maybe illegal, since Nixon was a board member. A large crowd gathered at a call ed meeting July 27, when attorney Chris Bean said that Nixon’s employment was both legal and ethical. RESIDENTS CELEBRATE OPENING—A large crowd was on hand for the store’s reopening. Jack Evans told the crowd that the communi ty was saddened when the original store was destroyed as the result of a fire in the early hours of January 26. finrit”Peiraltf Is Lowered Mayor John Dowd has suc cessfully negotiated a settlement of a civil penalty levied by the State of North Carolina’s Division of Environmental Management on the Town of Edenton. Approx imately $6,000 was reduced from the proposed penalty. In a letter dated April 8, 1987, the town was notified of an assess ment of civil penalties in the amount of $9,728 for violation of their Special Order by Consent, for disposing of sludge without a permit, and of exceeding permit limitations. Dowd and other town officials met with DEM officials last week to talk about the assessment and to discuss a letter written by the town in which reasons were given to reduce or totally remit the assessment. The Mayor had met with Paul Wilms, Director of DEM, in January and stated that the meeting had been one of a “positive” nature. The town had been shocked when they received an assess ment for discharges last year which resulted after a local in dustry dumped oil in the sewer collection system and the filtra tion bed was stripped of the bacteria which aid in the discharge levels. Dowd pointed out some dif ficulties the DEM office had with correspondence which was not received by the appropriate town officials. When the cor respondence was received, the town took steps to implement pro grams to curtail the discharge levels and began a pretreatment program to begin requiring businesses to pretreat discharges which would place a heavy de mand on the sewage system. After hearing the explanation of the circumstances and seeing the positive actions taxen by Edenton which had resulted in lowered discharge levels in recent months, Wilms agreed to reconsider the assessment. The town has been notified by letter that the $9,728 assessment has been reduced to $3,778. Bryan Presents Hospital Budget To Commission Johnny Bryan, Chowan Hospital Director, presented the hospital budget for fiscal year 1967-1988 to the,County Commis sioners fbr approval at their regular meeting Monday night. Anticipated gross revenue for the fiscal year will be $12,670,019, which includes an overall increase of 9Vi per cent. Increases for the various departments will increase from three percent to 50 percent depen ding Upon the labor intensity of the department. Bad debts, Medicare, Medicaid, and Hill Burton adjustments are budgeted for $4,557,705, giving a net patient income of $8,112,314. Expenses are budgeted for $7,827,056. A total net income is expected to be $426,000, which will be used to pay principal on the Bond Issue and capital expenditures for new equipment. Bryan reported that the skilled nursing addition is showing pro gress, that foundation walls are 75 per cent complete and the con tractor is to start forming a sec tion of the first floor this week. In answer to a question concer ning the progress of the fixed-base CT scanner, Bryan reported that ‘bids had been received and if ap proved by the board of directors, construction could start as early as September 1, with completion in 90 days. Commissioners approved the budget submission. The board took up again a re quest by Robert L. Barker to sub divide a plat of land adjacent to Peele’s Fishery on the Chowan Riyer. The request had previous ly been returned to the Planning Board because of a question of ap plicability of the road re quirements in the county’s sub division ordinance. County attorney William Culpepper said in a letter that in his opinion the road requirements are mot applicable. He did say, however, that two variances Continued On Page 4 Police Issue Five Citations The Edenton Police Dept, is cracking down on residents who litter and consume alcoholic beverages in public. Police Chief J.D. Parrish said Thursday, “We had complaints from citizens and had noticed peo ple littering the streets and public property. We’re trying to crack dwon on it so we can have a cleaner town.” From July 31 through August 3, five citations were issued. Three people were charged with littering (one of whom was also cited for possession/consumption of a malt beverageh Two other citations were issued to individuals for con suming alcohol in public. Grocery Store Reopens By JACK GROVE Like the legendary phoenix, which rose from the ashes, Rocky Hock Grocery officially reopened Friday morning after a fire in January destroyed the store. A large crowd of residents heard Jack Evans, president of the Rocky Hock Ruritans, say at the ribbon cutting, “This is a great event for us.” He spoke of a total community effort that began im mediately after the fire. A work force of volunteers was assembled, providing 800 man hours, that cleared the rubble in a single day. The effort didn’t stop there, however. Community groups held benefit suppers and provided materials and labor in rebuilding the store. The stdre has been a gathering place for the community for over 40 years. Evans told of men gathering there “to spit tobacco juice and tell a lot of stories.” Wallace Peele said that his un cle, Elbert Peele, first opened the store on the present site around 1943. The store was built from lumber salvaged from the Oak Grove School, which stood about one and three-quarters miles north of the grocery. Earl Smith was the next owner of the store and George and Shirley Drawdy took over its operation in 1981. Evans told the crowd, “There are a lot of fond memories here for all of you.” The new store represents “just plain love of a caring community.” County commission board chairman Alton Elmore mention ed the grocercy store that used to stand across the road. “It’s hard to imagine a store not being on this corner,” he told residents. Mrs. Drawdy, in an interview, started to enumerate the groups and individuals that participated in the rebuilding effort. Then she stopped and said, “There are just too many to remember them all. I’m afraid I’m going to miss somebody. To each and all, we thank them from the bottom of our hearts.” One man’s name camfe toHhe fore in the community effort, however. “Shorty Bass was large ly responsible for the coordination of all the efforts to rebuild the grocery,” George Drawdy said. Although the store’s official opening was Friday, the Drawdy’s have been selling groceries since July 2. “We had the doors open and a little bit of stock on the shelves and people just started coming in. We’re still not 100 percent done. We’ve got some painting and vinyl siding work to do,” Drawdy commented. Shirley Drawdy summed up the couple’s feelings to the crowd. “Even though we lost, we gained tri-fold.” The board met in regular ses sion Monday night at White Oak School. “We knew this is the area where the next board member will come from..We wanted to give you a chance to speak your ideas and views," board chairman Cecil Fry said. Around 60 people came to the meeting, still unhappy with the board’s hiring methods. Con sistently protestors have said they are not fighting Nixon, per se, but dislike the hiring procedure. Two people were recommended for Nixon’s board seat Monday night, Glorius Elliott and Emmett Winborne. At the meeting, James Taylor and Ms. Elliott spoke in behalf of her appointment. Speak ing in behalf of the other can didate were J. D. Peele, David Bateman, Charlie Asbell and Winborne. In the public dialogue which followed, Roger Bunch said he felt four board members were misled in Nixon’s hiring. “I think the vote might have been a little different if they had known all the facts,” Bunch said. He added that he would have applied for the job had he known that ability in mechanics was nojt required. “If the requirement was changed, was it changed to meet the person hired?” Bunch asked. Superintendent of schools Dr. John Dunn said requirements were not changed. Bunch replied that some people “..were soliciting the aid of an attorney to execute..a petition.” The most serious charge against the board came from Hubert Byrum, retired maintenance supervisor. Bynun said several years ago the N. C. Maintenance Association paid a lobbyist $5,500 to travel to Raleigh and attempt to have maintenance workers become state employees. Byrum said the state replied negatively, but sent a one-time bonus for maintenance super visors. He said Chowan received $2,240, Gates received $1,800 and Perquimans, $1,900. Byrum told the board that the NCMA said supervisors in Gates and Perquimans received the en tire amounts in two payments as a bonus. “I never received but $300 of my $2,240. I feel like you owe me Continued On Page 4 Local Streets Flood As Heavy Rains Fall Farmers and gardeners heaved a sigh of relief Tuesday while the first significant rainfall in weeks gave a drink to thirsty crops and vegetables. But along with the sighing, many watched the clouds ner vously for fear wind or hail might damage precious crops. The storm brought varying amounts of rain, some scattered power outages and minimum damage from lightning. Sheriff D.M. Sawyer of Pas quotank County said, “We’ve had a good rain”, but reported no damage in his county. A Perquimans dispatcher said that she knew of no damage from the storm. Severe storm warnings were out for Martin and Bertie Coun ties, where two inches of rainfall were recorded at Merry Hill and 1.1 inches in nearby Midway. Heavy rains fell in Edenton, where some streets were flooded and lightning struck a utility pole at the Barker House, leaving splinters scattered across the yard and mangling the top of the pole. One Chowan County farm Continued On Page 4 GOING TO MARKET—“Sheets” of tobacco are tied down by Jack Revels and his daughter, Jackie, in preparation for the trip to the Greenville tobacco market, which opened Wednesday morning. In addi tion to his business, Albemarle Tobacco Express, hauling tobacco, Revels is an auctioneer at Greenville.
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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Aug. 6, 1987, edition 1
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