>
Now that young R. Harris
Vaughan III has set the record
straight as to the nonpartisan
nature of Jim Wright's trou
| bles, we suppose we'll have to
‘leave the record straight. But
you could have fooled us.
There was Lee Atwater,
Republican National chair
man, ready with a pamphlet
attacking the character of
Rep. Tom Foley, the new
speaker, even before he was
elected, an action so partisan
I that President Bush and sev
eral members of the GOP
could not swallow it.
And there was Rep. Newt
Gingrich, a Georgia Republi
can activist, who instituted the
charges, wringing his hands
in glee as the old speaker went
down.
And there was Mark
) Goodin, Republican commu
nications boss, who lost his job
for circulating the "out of the
closet" pamphlet against Fo
ley, taking the responsibility
for something which really
lay at the feet of GOP Chair
man Atwater.
So we hope to be pardoned if
we had the idea that, somehow,
P partisan politics had been in
volved.
Another impression we got
was that the post-Wright de
velopments tended to show Lee
Atwater at his worst. Of
course, he looked President
Bush in the eye and denied he
was responsible for the anti
Foley pamphlet. He had ap
9 proved "some of it" over the
telephone, but the title had not
been read to him.
Let Record Stand
Ijility
This was par for the course
for Mr. Atwater. He is a past
master at denying responsi
for political sleaze.
Back during the Presiden
tial election, he denied re
sponsibility for use of the
Willie Horton case in the
Bush campaign. But back
during the campaign he was
quoted as telling a Republican
group that "if I can make
Willie Horton a household
word, we'll win the election."
He has denied that, too.
While the President was
endorsing a pay raise for
Congress and other top federal
employees, Mr. Atwater sent
out a fund-raising letter de
nouncing Democrats for the
idea. He denied that by say
ing the "pay raise material"
had been inserted by staff
members.
Now, they have done it
again. A letter has just gone
out from the National Repub
lican Senatorial Committee
making a "survey" of opin
ion on national issues. Ques
tion No. 3 asks: "Should
members of the Democrat
controlled Congress receive a
pay raise while our budget
deficit is over $100 billion?"
Why members of the Demo
crat-controlled Congress?
Why not simply members of
Congress, if an unbiased re
sponse is sought?
But that would not be the
Continued On Page 10
• More Charges Lodged
An Edenton man is in the
Chowan County Jail in lieu of
$1.1 million bond after his
arrest Wednesday evening,
June 14.
Robert F. Kelly, Jr., ac
companied by his attorney,
£ Keith Teague, surrendered
himself in the District Attor
ney's office in Elizabeth City.
He was escorted to Edenton by
Police Chief C.H. Williams
and Officer Brenda Toppin
where he was arrested and
charged with four counts each
of first degree sexual offense,
indecent liberties and crime
0 against nature and an addi
tional charge of indecent lib
erties.
v: A
The charges were con
tained in five sealed indict
ments, opened that day. They
are in addition to 21 identical
charges previously lodged
against Kelly in connection
with alleged offenses at the
Little Rascals Day Care cen
ter involving young boys.
Kelly had been free on
$95,000 secured bond and
$450,000 unsecured bond be
fore the latest arrest
Magistrate Carlton Jack
son set secured bond at
$250,000 on the first four in
dictments involving the mul
tiple charges and $100,000 on
the final indictment with the
single charge.
THE CHOWAN HERALD
Published In The Most Beautiful Little City On The North Carolina Coast
Volume LLV - No. 25
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, June 22,1989
Single Copies 25 Cents
County Fiscal Plan Approved
School Budget Debated
By JACK GROVE
Chowan County Commis
sioners met in special session
at 11 a.m. Monday to hear a
presentation on rural unpav
ed roads from the Department
of Transportation (see accom
panying story), to approve the
county budget for fiscal year
1989-90 and to pass a setback
ordinance.
The setback ordinance pro
vides that structures must be
placed no closer than 25 feet
from front lot lines and 20 feet
from side lot lines.
At a previous public hear
ing on the subject, A1 Howard
of the Arrowhead Beach sub
division asked that his com
munity be an exception to the
ordinance. He told the board
that Arrowhead's restrictive
covenants called for a 15 foot
setback from side lot lines.
He said the new ordinance
would be unduly restrictive on
property owners with unim
proved lots there.
Howard on Monday again
asked the board for this ex
emption but was told that
property owners could request
variances from the planning
board on a case by case basis.
They then passed the mea
sure.
The budget for the coming
Help Is Needed
The Edenton-Chowan
SPCA has issued an urgent
appeal to community resi
dents to come out to the local
Animal Shelter this Saturday
from 9-11 a.m. and volunteer
their time to help with some
badly needed repairs to the
facility.
They are especially inter
ested in having help from
those who are handy with a
paint brush and/or carpentry
tools.
According to Marcia
Crandall of the SPCA, "An
imal Control Officer Jerome
Purvis has been working
alone since the death of his
assistant, James Byrum. As
Jerome also does emergencj
service with the Rescue
Squad, he simply does no1
have enough time to get
around to these other chores.
"We have duck board;
used in the back of the runs or
Continued On Page 1(
DUSHNG--Lt. James White was engaged in a search for fingerprints Friday at the scene of a
break-in that occurred Thursday night at Dixon’s Truck Parts. In addition to damage to the
building, thieves stole $4,790.45 in merchandise from the business which is located on N.C. 32
North.
Business Broken Into Thursday
Dixon's Truck Parts and
Service on N.C. 32 North was
the scene of a break-in and
larceny last Thursday night.
The theft was reported to the
Chowan Sheriffs Department
at 7:50 a.m. Friday by Mar
sha Dixon Gregory.
A report filed by Sheriffs
Lieutenant James White in
dicated that entry was gained
by a thief or thieves by heav
ing a concrete block through a
glass door. Three interior
doors "received a great deal of
Continued On Page 10
damage from hard blows or
kicks."
Taken were nine Stihl
chain saws, a Toro generator
and an FS-56 grass trimmer
along with an undetermined
amount of money. The total
Continued On Page 10
Search Made For Reported Suicide Victim
county emergency person
nel searched the Chowan Riv
er without result Tuesday
night for a suicide victim af
ter it was reported that a man
had jumped from the bridge.
Authorities were alerted at
10:30 p.m. that a naked white
male was seen on the bridge
on the Chowan side about to
jump. The man who made the
report to Barry Kirby, man
ager of the Golden Corral Res
taurant, has not as yet been
identified.
Three boats were launched
under a full moon by the
Rescue Squad, the N.C. Ma
rine Fisheries and a state
Wildlife officer.
Using powerful spotlights,
the authorities scanned the
water, pilings on both sides of
the bridge and the north shore.
The search continued until
nearly 1 a.m. Wednesday
when it was terminated with
out result.
Chowan Sheriffs Deputy
Greg Whitehurst said that
prior to joining the water
search, he had driven to the
nndge s center draw looking
for discarded clothing. He
said that the draw operator
reported seeing nothing un
usual during the night. No
abandoned vehicle was found
at tne Driage s norm end.
Authorities agreed that the
report was likely a hoax.
SEARCHING-Chowan Deputy Sheriff Greg Whitehurst (left) and N.C. Wildlife Officer Jay
Rivenbark scan the dark waters of the Chowan River late Tuesday night searching for a nude
man said to have jumped from the bridge. No sign of the man was found.
year was also passed unani
mously without comment.
There was considerable
comment Friday morning,
however, at a special meeting
with representatives of the
school board. The school
board had asked for a $400,000
increase over its budget for
last year. The county only
granted an added $100,000.
The school board asked for
an additional $44,000 Friday
which received a cool
reception from the commis
sioners. School Board mem
ber John A. Mitchener, III
read a lengthy two page state
ment that contained some
bitter verbiage concerning
"financial relations between
our two boards."
He said that the schools
fund balance needed to be
maintained for unexpected
contingencies especially in
the light of new construction to
be provided under the recently
passed $7 million school bond
referendum. "We feel that the
$100,000 contingency allowed
in the bond vote is too small
for a $7 million project.
"We see a pattern of the
county cutting back its fund
ing of the school budget with
' local dollars and substituting
sales tax money as their share
* Continued On Page 10
NEW SPAN--The new Albemarle Sound Bridge stretches
across the water from the Chowan shore (below) to the distant
Washington County. The older span will be dismantled. The
dedication for the bridge will be held Monday. The new span
was opened to traffic Wednesday (yesterday). An official
program, with stories and pictures, which was prepared by The
Chowan Herald, is inserted in this week's edition. (This aer
ial view was made possible through the courtesy of Bill Myers
who provided his aircraft.)
County Road Plan
Receives Approval
State Department of Trans
portation officials met with
the Chowan County Board of
Commissioners Monday
morning to present the pro
posed secondary roads plan
for the county for fiscal year
1989-90.
DOT Board member for
this area, Phillip Godwin,
preceded the detailed explana
tion of the plan by telling the
board, "We're operating un
der a new rating system." He
said that two priority lists
were now being used for coun
ties. One is for rural unpaved
secondary roads and the other
targets subdivision-residen
tial unpaved roads.
Godwin said that from now
on the first ten roads on each
list will be "locked in." Pre
viously, roads much lower on
the prior year's list could be
moved up, setting some roads
higher up, back.
He also told the board that
the $8.6 billion special high
way legislation had been
passed by the state House of
Representatives and was now
"tied up in the Senate Finance
Committee."
District Engineer, C.O.
White said that current fund
ing would provide $161,000 for
paving county secondary
roads. If the highway package
is passed by the Senate, an
additional $57,652 would be
available to complete the base
and pave Hickory Fork Rd.
Others slated for improve
ment are Walker Drive, Don
na Drive, River Cottage Road
(completion of base and pav
ing); Tip Toe Road (wi rung
from 18 to 20 feet); and cireen
Continued On >.'< ge. 10
Ar
Ai
Edenton iVOi
Cape Colony man on F-ri
charging him with a la and
run which occurred at 9:50
p.m.
The charge stems from an
accident on Coke Ave. at the
intersection of Tyler Lane
when Fred Williams, 31, of
215 W. Carteret St., riding a
bicycle, was struck by a car.
Witnesses described the car, a
1977 gold colored Oldsmobile
Cutlass, to police.
A Chowan Sheriffs deputy
located the car at Cape Colony
Continued On Page 10