i
W?l*h£nj y^u
A Srtahzr And tjcLppy New ^cclt
On A Strange New
Year
Here we stand on the eve of
a new year in the twilight of a
century, wondering as a na
tion what the morrow will
bring. We have come to mea
sure distances in light years
1 and debts in trillions, but
seem unable to know what our
next step should be.
Our debt-plagued trading
partners can survive only if
they can obtain decreased in
terest rates and increased ex
ports. But we are the greatest
debtor of all, desperately
needing to increase our own
' exports.
Our political partners can
survive -- or so they tell us —
only if we expand'our defense
umbrella over them as nu
. clear weapons are dimin
ished, leaving them free to
loan us money and continue
to steal our markets.
Our economic partners in
’ the middle east will be sorely
tested unless the Stars and
Stripes continue to fly over
their oil transports in the Per
sian Gulf, an operation which
pushes the cost of every barrel
we import through the Straits
of Hormuz to $418.
And here at home, stagfla
| tion triggered by the stock
w market debacle continues to
fog the future. What will the
new year bring? Will it be re
, cession, with millions more
1 walking our streets, homeless
and hungry? Or will it ‘
ifWtwf
f return to mnat
feeds crisp, newly-printed
money into the economy?
^ Has the federal deficit re
ally gotten out of hand, set to
increase whatever happens? It
will go up if a recession cuts
into revenues; or, which is
just as bad, it will go up if in
flation boosts interest rates on
the national debt, now-the
third largest item in the fed
eral budget.
^ In our time, we have seen
many new years eome and
go; but we do not recall a time,
in peace or war, when we felt
less certain about the future of
Continued On Page 4
THE CHOWAN HERALD
Published In The Most Beautiful Little City On The North Carolina Coast
Volume LLIII - No. 52
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, December 31,1987
Single Copies 25 Cents
Night Guard Shot In Break-In
By JACK GROVE
A break-in at United Piece
Dye Works, Inc. became an
armed robbery early Friday
morning when thieves were
surprised by a security guard.
Another security guard, just
coming on his shift, was shot
in the robbeiy.
Chowan Deputy Victor
Lamb was first on the scene,
responding to a call received
at 12:15 a.m. Christmas
morning. He found that
guard W.S. Clements, 64, had
been shot, by what is believed
to be a .22 caliber pistol, in the
back in the right shoulder
area. Clements was trans
ported by the rescue squad to
Chowan Hospital and subse
quently released Sunday.
Lamb said that guard John
Damrose was grabbed by two
black males in a back office
of the main building. When
Clements, a former Edenton
police officer, arrived to begin
his shift, he too was overpow
ered and he and Damrose
were tied together.
The thieves broke into front
Filings Open
For Elections
Wliile 1988 is a presidential
election year, it will also see
candidates seeking election
and re-election on the state
and local levels.
Filings for state and local
offices will open at noon on
January 4 and will close at
noon on February 1.
On the state level, Governor
James Martin is seeking an
other term. Seeking to unseat
him will be Lieutenant Gov
ernor Robert Jordan. A large
field of candidates have an
nounced for the office of Lt.
Governor.
Other offices to be decided
include judgeships, the Coun
General A*-.
■embly seats.
In the First District, the
seats of Chowan Representa
tive R.M. (Pete) Thompson
and Representative Vernon
James of Pasquotank are up
for grabs.
In Chowan County, three
seats on the school board, two
on the county commission
and the position of Register of
Deeds will be decided.
On the school board, the first
township seats of John Mitch
ener, III and Alice Jones and
the second township seat of
Glorius Elliott will be de
cided. Mrs. Elliott was ap
pointed this year to the vacated
seat of Billy Nixon. Mrs.
Jtmes was appointed two years
ago.
The school board election is
uncertain at this time. The
county is awaiting a ruling
from the U.S. Dept of Justice
as to whether the current
makeup of voting districts
and method of selecting can
didates at-large is in accord
with the U.S. Voting Rights
Act.
Counties in North Carolina,
including Chowan, were sued
by the federal government
this year for not requesting
clearance when voting proce
■ dwos were changed in the
1970's. It was during that pe
riod that the Edenton and
Chowan school systems were
consolidated.
Board member John Mitch
ener, III said Wednesday that
he had "an interest in seeing
that subject placed on the
agenda" for the school board
meeting to be held next Tues
day. The meeting will be held
at 4:30 p.m. in the conference
room of the County Office
Building.
An election will be held for
register of deeds, a post cur
rently held by Ann Spruill.
Continued On Page 4
CHOWAN FIRST - District Court Judge Grafton C. Beaman congratulates Elizabeth Stevens
upon her entry to the N.C. Bar. Looking on are her parents and attorney William Culpepper
(right), who presented her to the court. Ms. Stevens is the first lady attorney to be licensed in the
state from Chowan County.
Lady Lawyer Makes Local History
w •
History was made Tuesday
morning when ' Elizabeth
Stevens was sworn in to the
North Carolina Bar in the
courtroom of Judge Grafton G.
Beaman. Ms< Stevens became
the first lady lawyer from
Chowan County.'' ■T
She is the daughter ’ of
Chester and Gahl Stjevens of
1010 W. Queen St, Edenton.
She was salutatorian for her
1978 graduating class at John
A. Holmes High School and
winner of the Rotary Cup,
awarded to outstanding se
iors.
Ms. Stevens graduated from
the University of North Car
olina at Chapel Hill with a
degree in political science.
During her undergraduate
days there, she was a member
of the fencing team.
She undertook law school at
N.C. Central University
where she graduated in May
summa cum laude with a
3.699 grade point average.
While there, she was the win
ner of the "moot court." She
graduated first in her class.
Passing her state bar exam
in July, she received her li
jonse to practice law on Au
gust 22. Tuesday's ceremony
marked her official entry to
the state bar.
The new attorney was pre
sented to the court by attorney
William Culpepper who out*
lined her accomplishments.
Judge Beaman, prior to the
swearing-in told her, "Miss
Stevens, your credentials are
certainly impressive to the
court."
She is currently employed
as a law clerk for the federal
district court judge for the
District of Columbia in
Washington, D.C. v jv: f
■ ■'»
offices where they rifled a bill
changing machine and went
through cabinets and desks.
An undetermined amount of
cash was taken.
Clements and Damrose
managed to free themselves,
and, thinking that the intrud
ers had left, Clements went to
the area where they had en
tered through an unlocked
back door. One of them ap
peared from a doorway and as
Clements turned to flee, he
was shot.
Lamb said that no other em
ployees were working due to
the holidays. He said that the
night watchmen were un
armed and "are mainly a fire
watch." He also said that,
during the incident, Damrose
was robbed.
Sheriff Fred Spruill had
praise for authorities of sur
rounding counties and towns
for cooperation in the search
for the robbers. He said that
roadblocks were manned by
the sheriffs departments of
Bertie, Washington, Gates
and Perquimans counties. He
also said that officers from
the police departments of
Edehton, Hertford and Eliza
beth City, as well as the
Pasquotank Sheriffs De
partment, aided in the search
for the vehicle believed in
volved in the robbery.
Lamb said that an investi
gation was continuing.
County Leads Area
Chowan County led the 10
county northeastern district
in the amount of marijuana
plants found and confiscated
during 1987. The Chowan
Sheriffs Department confis
cated 278 plants in 44 plots
with a street value of $333,600
according to Sheriff Fred
Spruill.
A report issued by the N.C.
State Bureau of Investigation
said that 89,273 plants
throughout the state were
eradicated with an estimated
street.Yalup..Qf$146,168,000.
Two hundred and four per
sons were arrested for the
manufacture of marijuana.
Two white males and two
white females were arrested
in connection with growing
marijuana in the county, with
another arrest possible,
Spruill said.
The campaign to rid the
county of the illegal crops was
conducted, in part, from the
air. An SBI airplane was used
in July to spot the plants and a
Craven County aircraft and
sheriff s deputy were utilized
twice. In addition, the Coast
guard lent a helicopter on one
occasion.
Spruill said that tips also
played a role in locating
plants. Three tips called in to
the new Edenton-Chowan
Crime Line resulted in plants
being eradicated and rewards
paid.
In neighboring counties,
Gates was second to Chowan
with 224 plants confiscated.
Others were: Bertie, 62; Cam
den, 117; Currituck, 8; Dare,
Continued On Page 4
Progress
Discussed
Officers with the Chowan
County Law Enforcement Of
ficers Association looked
back this week at their first
year as an organization and
looked ahead to plans for the
coming year.
The organization, formed
in March, had its major un
dertaking for 1987, the Eden
ton-Chowan Crime Line. The
Crime Line is published in
each issue of The Chowan
Herald and is broadcast
weekly on local radio station
WZBO. It seeks information
on highlighted local crimes
and offers rewards.
The organization's presi
dent, Hardy Gillam, said that
callers to the Crime Line, at
482-5100, are assigned num
bers when they provide in
formation. To receive any
reward, they are given a time
to call back or numbers may
be printed in the Crime Line
column and broadcast on the
Continued On Page 4
R.1VL (Pete) Thompson
Seeks
Return
Representative R.M. (Pete)
Thompson announced
Wednesday that he will seek
re-election to the North Car
olina House of Representa
tives from the First District.
The First District is com
prised of Camden, Currituck,
Chowan, Dare, Gates,
Pasquotank, Perquimans,
Washington and Tyrrell
counties.
Thompson is completing his
freshman term in 1988 and
will be running in the Demo
cratic primary in May for one
of two House seats from the
First District.
Representative Thompson
serves on nine legislative
committees: aging, agricul
ture, cultural resources, fi
nance, health, law enforce
ment, marine fisheries,
natural and economic re
sources and transportation.
Each of these areas are of par
ticular interest to the citizens
of the First District. At this
time, he also serves on seven
study commissions dealing
with agriculture, water qual
ity and the Oregon Inlet.
Thompson is a retired agri
culture extension chairman
and resides in Chowan
County with his wife, Carolyn
P. Thompson.
The legislator said "I ap
preciate the support of the First
District citizens in 1986 and
certainly would appreciate the
support of the First District
voters in 1988."
Two-Car Collision Nets One Injury
A two-car collision Sunday
at the intersection of U.S. 17
Business South and U.S. 17
Bypass resulted in both cars
being demolished and left the
driver of one hospitalized.
George Allan Nelms, 78, of
Kinston, was driving his 1978
Ford Thunderbird on U.S. 17
Business when he ran the stop
signal at the intersection and
struck a southbound 1978 Ford
on U.S. 17 Bypass driven by
Mary Bowen White, 75, of
Plymouth.
The impact knocked the
White vehicle into a ditch on
the west shoulder of route 1204
on the opposite side of the in
tersection. The Nelms car
spun around after impact and
collided with a stop sign on the
west shoulder of 1204 and
came to rest.
The accident, which oc
curred at 2:15 p.m. in the
rain, sent Nelms to the hospi
tal. Not requiring hospital
ization was his wife, Jeanne
Cowpcr Nelms, 67. Mrs.
White and Her husband,
Joseph Elton White Sr., 75.
All were reportedly wearing
seatbelts.
Investigating trooper,
Michael J. McArthur, cited
Nelms for failure to stop at the
stop sign.
Responding to the accident,
in addition to McArthur, were
troopers W.F. Whitley, W.M.
Long III, sheriff Fred Spruill,
deputies Greg Whitehurst and
Victor Lamb, EMS Coordina
tor Doug Belch, three rescue
squad ambulances and one
crash track. The DOT sanded
the road due to an oil and gas
spill.
A Chowan Hospital
spokesman said Wednesday
that Nelms was still a patient
and was listed in good condi
tion.
emm
DEMOLISHED ■ Hits 1978 Ford Thunderbird was involved in
an accident Sunday that injured the driver, George Allan
Nelms of Kinston. This car and another were demolished when
they collided at the intersection of U.S. 17 Business South and
U.S. 17 Bypass.