Published In The Most Beautiful Little City On The North Carolina Coast
Edenton, North Carolina. Thursday, January 12.1989
Volume LLV - No. 2
Single Copies 25 Cents
Kinder Or Gentler?
i It looks as if President-elect
George Bush's promise of a
kinder, gentler America is
falling on deaf ears insofar
as S. Paul O'Neal of Eden ton
is concerned.
■ Judging from his letter in
the Christmas edition of the
Chowan Herald, Mr. O'Neal
left the Democratic party to
i find a home for his con
: science in the GOP. But the
• litany of evils he cites as the
: reason for his shift are not the
. exclusive property of the
^Democratic party, especially
C 'the Democratic party of North
Carolina.
He says "our whole country
is still rich in Christian val
ues"..."the very thing that the
Democratic party resents and
ha’s tried to take away."
Surely, the members of the
Republican party do not have
jnonopoly on Christian val
j ues, else there would have
| been no indictments pending
in Washington, no S & Ls
unable to repay funds they
have held in trust, no sick and
hungry homeless on the
streets of our large cities.
He says to Senator Sanford
that "your party supports
^abortion." Many members of
the Democratic party abhor
abortion, as did Jimmy Carter
when he was president. The
sabe can be said for many
| members of the Republican
P<rty, tout not fbr President
elect Bush’rtoewly-appointed
Secretary of Health and Hu
m£n Resources, Dr. Louis
^Svillivan. In any event, the
abortion issue was created by
thj) U.S. Supreme Court, not
the Democratic party.
Not allowing our children to
"ptay to God when and where
they want to," Mr. O'Neal
continues, "takes away one of
our basic rights. Mr. Sanford,
your party supports this.”
WHere, again, it was the U.S.
Supreme Court that abolished
state-directed school prayer,
not the Democratic party.
And, again, that decision is
supported by members of both
parties, not to mention mem
Continued On Page 10
1
r
MK
a
The Gdenton - Chowan
Crime Line has an urgent
message for one particular
area resident.
Recently, someone called
the Crime Line and
anonymously provided in
formation about a break-in
and robbery on South Broad
Street in Edenton. A televi
sion and VCR were taken.
Thanks to this report by a
concerned citizen, Crime
Line was able to relay in
formation to the Edenton
Rolice Department which
resulted in the recovery of
the stolen items and the ar
rest of a suspect in the case.
Unfortunately, because
the call came in after, busi
ness hours, the caller was
hot assigned a number
(Routine in such cases) by
Shich a reward could be
llected.
Crime Line would like
for this person to call back
Members To Be Elected In A District System
Board Votes To Change Election System
The school board unani
mously voted Monday night to
follow the county's example
in seeking to change the
present at-large voting sys
tem that now elects board
members.
County commissioners
and school board members
would be elected in a district
system that requires all but
one of seven members to re
side in the district from which
they are elected. Only voters
in the three planned districts
could vote on candidates for
v • •• if1'.:*'* &
;wo seats in their respective
iistrict. The seventh membei
would fill an at-large seat
with all county voters casting
sallots.
The county board of com
■nissioners presently has five
members and would be in
Pride Campaign Underway
CONGRATULATIONS, PREACHER -- Chowan Herald General Manager Pete Manning
second from left, congratulates Rev. George Cooke, first-place winner in the newspaper's 198
"Pride" campaign. Joining with Manning in expressing good wishes are (1. to r.) Chowa
County Commission Chairman Joe Hollowell, Edenton Mayor John Dowd and Chamber c
Commerce President John Cuthrell. The 1989 "Pride" campaign gets underway this weel
Nomination forms (available from the Herald business office) and photographs will be accepte
until 5 p.m. on Monday, February 27. (File photo)
The Chowan Herald will be
conducting its "Pride of 1989"
campaign for the next several
weeks. This special annual
event will culminate in an
election in which the commu
nity at large will have a
chaage-to choose thafc. parson,
held in highest regard by the
people.
In 1988, winners included
Rev. George Cooke, a local
minister; Mrs. Ruth Spencer,
a volunteer at the Chowan Se
nior Citizens' Center; and
Dr. James Slade, a family
physician who specializes in
pediatric care.
Beginning with the
Chowan Herald's next edition
on Thursday, January 19,
space will be made available
in the newspaper for nomina
tions to be announced. Final
deadline for receiving
nominations will be 5 p.m. on
Monday, February 27.
A photograph and brief
profile of each nominee will
be published. Then, when all
the nominations have been
received, an entire special
section will ba printed on
Thursday, March 16 contain
ing pictures and biographical
sketches of the candidates.
Each nominal will be as
signed a member, and voters
can make their choices
known by filling out a ballot
which will be included in that
Dealer Challenges
Purchasing Procedure
A local car dealership has
challenged the town’s proce
dures in purchasing public
vehicles.
* Early last October, the town
advertised for bids on a 1989
3/4 ton, cab and chassis, 4
wheel drive truck. The
George Chevrolet Co. re
sponded with a quote, which a
company official said would
be honored the same as a bid.
Subsequently, in'a memo to
Tom Palmer, general man
ager of the, firm, dated Nov. 2,
town manager Anne-Marie
Kelly stated that "financial
restraints" forced a cancel
lation of the bid offer and that,
intfawpit town would in
_It transmission
-ruck.
smo further thanked
that quotes would be solicited
in the future.
In a Dec. 13 memo to coun
cil members, Ms. Kelly said
that two trucks and two police
cars would be purchased.
"Funds are available for
these purchases" according to
the memo and "The purchase
from state contract represents
a savings of approximately
$3,000" over local purchase.
Nick George took issue
with the conflicting state
ments in the two memos. On
one point, he said that specifi
cations for the vehicle his
company received had more
expensive parts than the state
vehicle. These included a V-8
engine, versus a V-6 engine;
a spare tire; a 6,000 lb. rear
axle, versus a 4,670 lb. rear
Continued On Page 10
week's edition. Blank ballots
will be available at The
Chowan Herald office for
those who are not subscribers.
Voting will be by numbers
and, in order to avoid any
duplication, each ballot must
son ca^tin^^e^vole1
the ballots are in, they will be
tabulated by members of the
Herald staff and several in
dependent observers.
Banquet
Scheduled
The Fall Sports Awards
Banquet will take place at 6:30
p.m. in the John A. Holmes
High School cafeteria on
Thursday, January 12
(tonight). The public is wel
come to attend.
Among the honorees will be
the girls' tennis team, the
football cheerleaders, and the
Varsity and J.V. football
teams.
Special guest will be Robert
Brown of the Green Bay
Packers. He is a graduate of
Holmes High School.
Tickets are priced at $5.00
each, and can be purchased
from the office at the high
school.
Awards will be presented tc
those persons receiving the
first-, second-, and third
highest number of votes.
This event is intended tc
give an individual the oppor
tunity to place in nomination
#%n§me of oryg ^persQn in
Chowan County who has dis
tinguished himself or herseli
through outstanding service tc
the community. The names ol
those making nominations
will remain confidential.
The nominee does not have
to be an elected official, a
business executive, or a pro
fessional person, although he
Continued On Page 1(
NO PUBLIC SKATEBOARD RAMPS -Harvey R. Mathias,
Dir. of Risk Management for the N.C. League of Munici
palities, explained to town council members Tuesday night the
prohibitive cost of liability insurance for skateboarding on
public property. Council reluctantly shelved planning for a
new public skateboard facility.
Town Observes Holiday
The Town of Edenton,
Chowan County, schools, the
state and nation all will ob
serve Martin Luther King's
birthday, Monday, Jan. 16.
Town officials had origi
nally planned to drop one of
the three days of the Christ
mas holiday as a trade-off.
Town Manager Ann-Marie
Kelly said that the daily em
ployee payroll amounts to a
bout $5,000. There are nine
paid holidays per year.
At Tuesday night's town
council meeting, the manager
said that she had received a
petition signed by 39 of the 80
employees asking to retain
the three-day Christmas holi
day. With the concurrence of
council, Ms. Kelly will work
with employees seeking an
other holiday to drop.
The announced town trash
pick-up schedule is:
Mon., Jan 16 - no pick-up
Tues., Jan 17 - East and
West side;
Wed., Jan. 18 - Limbs,
bushes and other debris;
Thurs., Jan. 1.9 - East side;
Fri., Jan 20 - West side.
creased by two. The school
board currently has seven
members;
District one would encom
pass the northern end of the
county from a line just above
Valhalla. There is a minority
population of just under 29 per
cent in the district.
District two would com
prise almost the rest of the
county with the exception of
! the town. Its minority popula
| tion is almost 32 per cent.
District three, comprising
| most of the town, has a minor
| ity population of 63 per cent.
The voting plan is design
ed to more readily assure
minority representation on
the two boards.
| The NAACP has success
Legion
Offers
Reward
it
i American Legion Post 40
f was the site of a break-in and
robbery which authorities es
1 timate occurred late Monday
night or early Tuesday
morning.
There were no signs of
forcible entry into the build
ing. However, a store room
door and office doors had been
"kicked in," according to
E.C. Toppin, executive com
mittee member.
A television set was taken
from the office and a mi
crowave oven was removed
from the kitchen during the
theft, which was discovered
between 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. on
Tuesday.
Post 40 is offering a $500.00
reward for information lead
ing to the arrest and convic
tion of the person responsible.
Meanwhile, an investiga
tion by the Chowan County
Sheriffs Department, under
the supervision of Deputy
1 Victor Lamb, is continuing.
fully forced other counties to
re-district for this reason.
Elizabeth City fought a losing
and expensive legal battle to
retain its at-large system.
Perquimans County last year
was threatened with litigation
before plans were made to
change that system.
Conversely, Chowan Coun
ty Commissioners began vol
untarily formulating the new
district system last year and
have requested enabling leg
islation from the General
Assembly. The First District
delegation will sponsor the
legislation.
School board members may
be elected to two consecutive
six-year terms. The terms are
staggered to allow for conti
nuity on the board. Superin
tendent John Dunn said that
the limited term concept will
not change under the new
plan.
Tom Bass
EMrector
Selected
John A. Holmes Athletic
Director Tom Bass has been
selected as the 1988 Athletic
Director of the Year for Re
gion One by the N.C. High
School Athletics Association .
According to Rick Strunk,
Assistant Executive Director
for the NCHSSA, Bass was
chosen at the regional confer
ence attended by superinten
dents, athletic directors,
principals and coaches. They
selected a peer who had best
promoted high school athlet
ics.
Bass is now eligible for the
statewide competition in May.
He came to the school sys
tem as a teacher and a coach
in 1967. He was appointed
athletic director in August of
1985.
Reacting to the award,
Edenton-Chowan Schools Su
perintendent Dr. John Dunn
said, "I think it's a well-de
served recognition. I feel that
Tom has been an asset to the
conference for a long time.
"He's provided leadership
among the coaches and ath
letic directors in the district
in establishing integrity in
competition between schools.
He's always kept the best in
terest of the athletes in mind,
in the growth of young men
and women."
Holmes' Principal Rob
Boyce agreed. "Tom is a ded
icated and conscientious
teacher, coach and athletic
director. His leadership is
grounded in a philosophy of
making sure there is a proper
and harmonious relationship
maintained between athletics
and the rest of the school's ac
tivities. He is truly deserving
of this award."
Bass said Wednesday,
"It'8 a great honor. When you
receive something from your
peers, you cherish it. Any
award that I receive, I cer
tainly have to share it with all
the coaches here at the school
because they make my job so
easy. Our staff works ex
tremely hard.”