THE CHOWAN HERALD Published In The Most Beautiful Little City On The North Carolina Coast Volume LLV - No. 6 Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, February 9,1989 Single Copies 25 Cents That Old New Tax We hope President George Bush's promise of a kinder, gentler nation doesn't end up like his predecessor's fairer, simpler tax code. If it does, we're in for some tougher, wilder times. Take it from Stanley W. Hege of Edenton, middle in come Americans are in for a rude awakening when April 15 rolls around. Comparing the 1988 IRS tax table with the "tax reform table" of 1987, Mr. Hege has discovered that the only thing "revenue neu tral" about it applies to the couple, filing jointly, who have a taxable income of $29,000. If you fall in any of the brackets below that, you as a couple are going to be paying more income taxes than you did in 1987; and if you fall in the brackets above that, you are going to be paying less, much less as you go up the scale. In other words, millions of hard working, middle in come Americans are going to be picking up the tab for the tax break given to the very wealthy. Mr. Hege has called President Bush's attention to this in a letter dated January 20. He points out that the 1988 tax for a couple with a taxable income of up to $2,000 will be 37 per cent higher than it was in 1987. From there the per centage of increase declines until you reach the $29,000 bracket. For the couple with a taxable income of $30,000, the 1988 tax will actually be 2.36 per cent less than it was in 1987. And so it goes, the bigger the in come, the greater the tax break. Continued On Page 10 Misconceptions Cause Busy Lines Lisa Anderson, acting site manager for the new Swain Apartments, said Tuesday that she has been swamped with telephone calls from in dividuals with misconcep tions as to rentals. One misconception result ed from an error in a news article in last week's Chowan Herald. The article stated that one and two bedroom units were available. Actually all 38 units are one bedroom apartments. Another concerned avail ability of apartments for low income persons, other than elderly and disabled. In the initial stages of planning, one floor had been considered for this purpose according to Chowan County Manager Cliff Copeland. The plan was Moving Day: Offices Close Town officials have an nounced that the Edenton Municipal Building will be closed on Monday, Feb. 13 while employees move their offices to the new Town Hall (old Peoples Bank Build ing). Customers paying utility bills may use the night de posit which is located in front of the present Munici pal Building. New offices in the Town Hall will open to the public at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. r14. — Students Face Bout With Virus Attendance Fluctuates Durina Flu Season By JACK GROVE Recent extreme tempera ture swings, from the low 50’s to a high near 80 last week to1 the 30's and 40's this week are thought by many to be a cause of the spread of viruses result ing in colds and the flu. Press reports indicate a spread of flu viruses on UNC campuses from Raleigh to the east coast. Another concern of state health officials has been an increase of red measles in college and secondary school populations across the state. Whether or not the weather is a factor, at least one local private school has closed due to the flu. A local rumor that unusually large numbers of Edenton-Chowan school stu dents have been ill has proven untrue. Tom Gregory, Headmaster at Lawrence Academy, said Tuesday that his school has closed twice in the past two weeks. The first closing was due to "quite a few students reporting in sick." He said that his school has an annual winter break and that it was called early due to the ab sences "in order to try to pre vent further sickness." This was from Jan. 22 through Jan. 30. When students and faculty returned on, Jan. 30, "Lo and behold, we had more kids sick than before," Gregory said. He said that the absentee rate was 40 per cent. Also, four of 27 teachers were ill. At a fac ulty meeting it was decided that for the "best educational interests of the school," Law rence Academy should again close Wednesday, Thursday and EViday of last week. 8chool officials had con tacted Bertie County and state health officials who supported the closing decision while not saying it was mandatory. In monitoring the health of its students, Gregory said that the school has been keeping a sharp eye out for measles. No cases have been reported. subsequently changed to pro vide apartments only for el derly and disabled he said. Ms. Anderson, who repre sents the managing company of Weil Enterprises of Golds boro, defined elderly as those 62 and older and handicapped or disabled as those so desig nated under state and federal definitions. "You're dealing with peo ple that have low incomes," she said. She pointed out that the elderly are most often on fixed incomes which include social security and often low retirement income benefits. While rents will be rela tively low, they will not in clude utilities. She said that, while all the apartments have been fitted with aids for the elderly, such as bathtub hand-rails, two apartments have been spe cially fitted to aid the handi capped. These include low ered kitchen appliances and cabinets for those in wheel chairs. Residents will not need to visit a laundromat either. Washers and dryers are pro vided on the premises. Ms. Anderson has been managing on a temporary basis. Edenton resident Hazel Morgan has been hired as the permanent resident man ager. Saying that she expected to remain only two more weeks, she explained, "I’m here to get the project started and to train the manager." In addition to the resident manager, a building superin tendent is expected to be hired A viral infection of the respiratory tract, flu brings on fever, chills, headache, sore throat, coughing, muscle aches and fatigue. While the symptoms usually last about a week, the illness can progress to severe complications in older or infirm people. KEEP NAME--John Morehead, utilizing flip charts, showed the evolution of the name of a road from Briols to the current pronunciation of Brayhall at a public hearing Monday night. County commissioners had received a petition to change the road sign to Brnyhall from Briols. Morehead wanted the sign to remain as it is. Brayhall Rd. won out. Pre/Post School Program For Students To Begin A before and after school care program will soon begin for the local school system's "latch-key kids," Malinda McGlone, Community-School Relations Coordinator said Monday. Sitting in on the in terview was schools superin tendent, Dr. John Dunn. The program will be oper ated at D.F. Walker and White Oak Schools for stu dents in grades K-8. Staffing at Walker will consist of the assistant principal, one teach er and two teacher aides. The program there begins next Monday. Staffing has not yet been identified for White Oak so an opening date has not been established. Hours for the program on school days in the morning are from 7:30-8:15 and in the afternoon from 3-5:30. A nu shortly. Those eligible persons in terested in applying for an apartment may call the man ager at 482-5211. The office is located on the ground floor of the building. tritious afternoon snack will be served. Transportation must be provided by parents. Ms. McGlone said, "We are trying to provide an en richment program for chil dren whose parents both work," and added, "We're not a babysitting service." Three categories of activi ties are planned: physical - for example, arobic dance; quiet time - with activities such as supervised home work, story time, and rest time; and expressions through the arts - such as drawing, puppets, painting and cooking. The program is currently funded for three years by a $30,000 state grant from the Dept, of Public Instruction and by fees paid by participat ing parents. It is eventually intended to be self-supporting. "That's the notion," the superintendent remarked. Dunn said that all school systems across the state re ceived the same amount in "seed money" and were not told how to use the funds. Pe riodic reports do have to be made to the state concerning the operation of the program, however. A brochure is available to ABLE Center Proposed Planning has begun on a literacy center here that may evolve into a satellite center in Chowan County of the Col lege of the Albemarle. It all started on October 6, 1988 with a "Harpoon" printed in The Chowan Herald on be half of COA's Adult Basic Literacy Education (ABLE) program and it listed COA's continuing education classes held at John A. Holmes High School. Harpoons are created by Howard E. Kohn, II, Director of Special Projects at the Her ald and illustrated by staff member Gail Basnight. They are a weekly feature geared to serve community needs. The October 6 Harpoon was titled "Let's Help Them Help Someone" and it referred to a Nation's Business magazine cover which read "30 per cent of your employees can't read this headline and it's costing your business plenty." One week later, Mary Partin, Director of Literacy Education, appointed Kohn to represent COA in Edenton and Chowan County on pro gram planning and other ac tivities as a member of the Ad visory Committee for the 1988 89 academic year. On October 28, Kohn, ac companied by Herald Associ ate Editor Rebecca Bunch and Executive Director Richard Bunch of the Edenton-Chowan Chamber Chamber of Com merce toured the very suc cessful ABLE Center in Eliz abeth City. They were then in vited to lunch by COA's Pres ident, Dr. Parker Chesson and Dean Norman Norfleet. Kohn discussed bringing an ABLE Center to Edenton and the later expansion and creation of a COA Edenton Chowan Center. The plan was accepted im mediately and, in a letter dated October 31, Chesson con firmed the luncheon discus sion. Dr. Chesson stated, "Such a facility could house the literacy education project, curriculum classes and vari ous continuing education classes and I do believe this is something th«t is needed in Chowan County and which will be successful.” Kohn obtained from Ches son the offer of providing the instructional and equipment Continued Chi Page 10 parents which contains an application for the program and details on how it will be run. Fees listed in the brochure for the morning program are $2 per week for students eligi ble for free or reduced meals and $4 for students paying full meal price. Payments for the after school program are $8 and $12 per week. Ms. McGlone will oversee the program. "It is going to be my baby." She said that those wishing more information may contact her at the central office at 482-4436. Funding In Budget Gov. Jim Martin has in cluded in his proposed budget an amount of $463,000 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1989, for the restoration and enlargement of the Ziegler house in Edenton. According to Sen. Howard F. Bryan of Iredell, the project calls for "the construction of an 1,800 square foot addition to the 3,377 square foot Ziegler house located on the James Iredell State Historic site in Edenton in Chowan County. Funds are also recommended for the renovation of the exist ing dwelling. When com plete, the facility will be used as a Visitors Center for the LOST LOAD—This log truck was involved in a single vehicle accident on N.C. 37 just north of the Yeopim Rd. on Friday afternoon. The driver, Lonnie Wade Smith, 29, of Columbia was unhurt but the truck sustained $10,000 in damage. He lost control when braking to avoid a pickup turning into a driveway. He was cited for failure to reduce speed. Dr. John Dunn dispelled the rumor about illness a mong students of the Edenton Chowan School System dur ing an interview Monday. He provided school-by school and day-by-day absen tee figures for last week. John A. Holmes High H.S., with a total enrollment of 720 students, had 107 absent on Tuesday, Jan. 31 for the high with a low of 80 on Thursday, Feb. 2. D.F. Walker had a high of 78 on Monday, Feb. 6 with a low of 57 on the previous Thursday. The school's en rollment is 1,009. Chowan Jr. High had a low of 56 on Monday, Feb. C with a high of 68 on the previous Fri day. The school's enrollment is 427. White Oak had a high of 35 on Friday, Feb. 3 with a low of 22 on the previous day. The school's enrollment is 355. The system-wide absentee rate for the week was an average of 10 per cent. "Four per cent is normal," Dunn said while cautioning that the figures include absences at tributable to reasons other than illnesses. The superintendent said that the week’s figures were nothing to be concerned about. "It would be consistent with a normal school year," he said, where some weeks have a higher than normal absentee rate. He added, "We would consult with the Health De partment if we became con cerned," with abnormally high absences. As with Lawrence Acade my, no red measles have been reported among the system’s students. James Iredell house and the remainder of Historic Eden ton." This does not mean that the money is assured, but it is a major first step toward the much-needed upgrading of the historic site. It is much easier to keep an item in the recommended budget during the legislative process than it is to put a new item in. Reps. Vernon James and Pete Thompson and Sen. Marc Basnight will be on the alert to see that the current money pinch does not result in the deletion of the item as the budget moves toward final Continued On Page 10

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