% THE CHOWAN HERALD
Published In The Most Beautiful Little City On The North Carolina Coast
Volume LLV - No.v13
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, March 30,1989
Single Copies 25 Cents
Asking the
Hard Questions
While some legislators
1 seem to be quibbling over tax
increases proposed to finance
the 12-year $8.5 billion road
building project, nobody
seems to be asking serious
questions about the basic wis
dom of such an undertaking.
What, for example, will be
the overall environmental
— impact of such a massive pro
ject? How many acres of
arable farmlands will be re
moved from use? How many
million more trees will be up
rooted and destroyed? How
will increased runoff affect
droughts and flooding in the
long run?
Do we really need several
^hundred more miles of four
' lane highways? Will more
inner loops simply call for
more outer loops and more
outer loops for perimeter
loops? And how many people
will be displaced in the pro
cess?
And, finally, could this
$8.5 billion - or portions of it -
0-be put to better use? Should we
be thinking more about
putting every citizen within
reach of a system of rapid
mass transit rather than try
ing to build a four-lane high
way to his door? Or should we
be trying to develop renewable
energy sources which would
r be more compatible with our
^environment?
Should individual projects
envisioned in the $8.5 billion
program be spelled out in the
statutes, together with starting
dates and other particulars?
This is an abrupt departure
from past practice and raises
questions about the economic
/-|as well as the political wis
aom of doing it.
Some of the many in
trastate projects contemplated
in the $8.5 billion program
call for four-laning addi
tional east-west routes. N.C.
158 would be four-laned from
Winston-Salem across the
state to Currituck Sound,
I) which would be bridged, then
down the Outer Banks to
Whalebone just east of Man
teo, a distance of some 300
miles.
Allowing a conservative
Continued On Page 8
<> Hospital Receives Grant For Improvements
Chowan Hospital has been
awarded a $100,000 grant
from the Duke Endowment to
assist with a hospital con
struction program and re
placement of vital critical
care equipment.
Hospital Director Johnny
Bryan said that the grant will
be utilized to assist with the
construction of a 20 bed psy
chiatric unit on hospital
grounds and updating of the
intensive care unit's moni
toring system,
louring the past 20 years,
Chowan Hospital has received
nearly $1 million in grant
funds from the Duke Endow
ment.
Areas of assistance in
clude construction of the pre
sent acute care hospital with a
later 10 bed addition; an ear
ii i iiinwiwiitiT'r'r
DOWNTOWN MAYORS GATHER*«Edenton Mayor John Dowd (right) and former mayors
(from left) John A. Mitchener, Jr. and George Alma Byrum gathered Friday to sign
maintenance agreements for small flower gardens around trees in front of their downtown
|HMsinesseS. Standing, representing sponsors of "Blooming Business," are (L to r.) Dee Phillips
"chairman of the Edenton Tree Committee and Carol Sieck and Suellen Bloom of the Garden
Club. Mitchener served as mayor from June, 1959 to May, 1969 when Byrum succeeded him and
served until November 1979. Dowd has served from November 1965 until the present. (See related
■story on ease 1QA) •
lier renovation and subse
quent replacement of the
skilled nursing unit; educa
tional annex addition; ancil
lary department renovation
and expansion; development
of full-time emergency room
physician services; and re
imbursement for charity
care.
In announcing this most
recent appropriation, Bryan
stated "The Duke Endowment
has been most generous in
their support of Chowan Hos
pital when requests for funds
have been made to meet the
ever-increasing need for new
or expanding services for the
public we serve."
North and South Carolina
hospitals may receive assis
tance from the Duke Endow
ment for construction and
equipment, charity care and
expansion of patient services.
The fund also assists chil
dren's homes in the Caroli
nas; four educational institu
tions, Duke, Johnson C. Smith
and Furman Universities
and Davidson College; rural
United Methodist churches,
retired United Methodist min
isters and widows and depen
dent orphaned children of
United Methodist ministers
in North Carolina.
The Duke Endowment was
established by James B. Duke
n 19*>A
ROBOT PERFORMS—With Chowan Sheriff Fred Spruill at the controls, STAR, the robot
performs to the delight of second grade students from D.F. Walker School. STAR also had a
special message for the children.
Robot Educates And Entertains
STAR Has Rapt Audience
By JACK GROVE
At national, state and local
levels, it has been recognized
Visitors
Invited
Town officials are urging
area residents to attend the
open house from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
today at the new Edenton
Town Hall at the comer of So.
Broad and West King Streets.
The former People's Bank
building, it was donated to the
town by the bank and has been
renovated to provide new mu
nicipal office space.
When the town received the
building, its estimated worth
was $300,000. Renovation and
decoration has cost an addi
tional $236,334.
Of the total cost for conver
sion to town use, the construc
tion work totaled $217,606; the
architect's fee was $2,200;
$1,750 went for cleaning the
exterior; window decor was
$3,890, a telephone system cost
$2,115; and new furnishings
totaled $8,773.
The former municipal
building will be occupied by
the police department and the
present police building may
be used as a satellite facility
for the recreation department.
that law enforcement efforts to
neutralize the drug suppliers
is not enough to solve the
growing illegal drug menace
in our communities. Educa
tion of young people is seen as
a key to preventing drug use.
Chowan County Sheriff
Fred Spruill has been active
on the enforcement front and,
with a new tool, is forging
ahead on the education front.
Through federal grant
money, adn^iistered by the
N.C. Dept, of Crime Control
and Public Safety, Spruill has
obtained "STAR," a robot with
many messages for children,
including traffic safety and
learning to "just say no."
The sheriff unveiled his
new friend for second-grad
ers from D.F. Walker School
this week. What might have
been just another dull lecture
was transformed into an en
thralling experience for the
children.
After a tour of the jail,
where the children could see
the end result of drug use, they
were introduced to STAR in
the lobby. "He came here all
the way from Texas to see
ya'll," Spruill told the classes
of Loretta Roberson and Paula
Rineheart. He was referring
to Mesquite, Tex., the location
of the robot's manufacturer,
Digitech Robotics Corp.
The many-talented robot
has a video screen in his
chest, traffic lights on one
side, signs that flash "walk"
and "don't walk," blue flash
ing lights, a siren and a seat
belt. ("Your car should not
move unless you buckle up.")
Using a hand-held remote
control, the sheriff moved
STAR around the room, wav
ed the robot's arms and open
ed and closed its hands.
Another feature allows the
controller to speak through the
robot to an audience from con
cealment, using a wireless
microphone.
A video camera in one eye
panned across the children's
faces allowing them to see
themselves on the chest screen
to giggles and excited chatter.
The students then were
treated to a VCR cartoon with
a message, courtesy of the
robot. It depicted the popular
Flintstone characters, as chil
dren, who are tempted to use
drugs by neighborhood
friends. They refused and the
soon isolated friends saw the
error of their ways and gave
up drugs.
In a question and answer
period ending the presenta
tion, one girl observed of a
character in the video who
used marijuana, "He should
n't have tooken any at first."
A boy, who said that his dad
had criticized color TV for
jail prisoners, asked why they
Continued On Page 8
Expired Tags
Net Citations
Some town residents who
have not yet purchased their
1989 town tags for their cars
are now wishing they had.
Acting Police Chief C.H.
Williams said Tuesday that
his officers had handed out
over 50 citations over the
weekend for this violation
and seat belt violations.
Cars are also being tick
eted downtown for parking
over two hours on the street as
well as unauthorized parking
in handicapped spots marked
by signs. Four new handi
capped spaces were desig
nated last week.
Expired town tags, a mis
demeanor violation of a town
ordinance could draw a $50
fine or 30 days in jail. Being
unbelted in a moving vehicle
is an infraction under state
law and is punishable by a
flat $25 penalty.
While an ordinary park
ing violation draws a $5 pen
alty, unauthorized parking in
a parking space designated
for the handicapped will net a
$25 penalty.
Williams explained that
those parking in handicapped
spaces must display a state
issued handicapped plate. For
those truly handicapped and
without the plate, he said that a
first offense would draw a
warning and the second a ci
tation.
Persons requiring a hand
icapped plate can go to the
DMV office at the bus station
and obtain a form to be filled
otit and signed by their doctor.
The form is then sent to Ra
leigh along with the regular
$20 fee and the plate will be
mailed to the applicant. This
is for the permanently affixed
plate on a car.
Another type of plate can be
obtained directly from the lo
cal office for $5 that can be
placed on the dashboard and
moved from car to car. A doc
tor's certification for this
plate is also required.
ASAP SPEAKER--Rod Cross, president of Albemarle Sound
Action Program, told an audience at a meeting Tuesday night
of the horrors that could ensue if swift action isn't taken to
wake up the public to what unchecked pollution is doing to our
environment.
Pollution Hazards
Stressed By ASAP
The acronym, "ASAP,"
usually means "as soon as
possible." Locally, it has an
other meaning, "Albemarle
Sound Action Program," a
local environmental group
formed by Rod Cross, it’s first
president. As far as Cross is
concerned, the first definition
also applies to his organiza
tion.
At a meeting at the Jaycee
building Tuesday night, he
told about 40 attendees that
their presence indicated a
commitment to cleaner wa
ters and to an overall pristine
environment. They were urg
ed by Cross to take an active
part in the organization, to
write their state legislators
urging stronger environ
mental protection and to bring
in friends and neighbors to
the effort
He related the same mes
sage that he has carried to the
town council and board of
county commissioners, that a
"substantial education pro
gram" needs to be created to
inform the public of hazards to
clean water. He cited the leg
islative ban on phosphorous
laced laundry detergents in
1987 as an example of an en
vironmental success story,
even though "It was a dog
fight," with the detergent in
dustry.
He compared the struggle to
protect the environment with
the federal budget deficit.
Cross maintained that "sac
rifW war in both
areas if success was to be
achieved.
He spoke of coastal waters
that "reek of the odor of rotting
algae and dead fish. Our eyes
can no longer view the won
ders of God's creation without
seeing syringes and other
medical wastes on our
beaches.
"Literally thousands of
pieces of plastic and styro
foam in every square mile of
our ocean, fish and crabs with
open sores that seem to burn
through their bodies like acid
and, to quote Walter Cronkite,
Continued On Page 8
Officers
Elected
Chowan Republicans held
their biennial convention at
the old courthouse on March 20
to elect officers and delegates
to district and state conven
tions. All of those chosen were
elected unanimously.
Special guests at the con
vention were Steven P. Rader
and Shirley E. Perry, chair
man and vice-chairman, re
spectively, of the First Con
gressional District
New chairman is S. Paul
O'Neal along with Ann Ellis
as vice-chairman, Tom Har
ris, treasurer and Pamela
Esyk, secretary.
On °