Volume LVI - No 32
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, August 9,1990
Single copies zt> cents
These Roses Stink
Common Cause, the citi
zens lobby which tries to ride
ierd on Washington, is call
hg for a National Commis
sion of Inquiry to "get to the
oottom of this $300 billion
scandal to make sure those
rdlfronsible are held account
able.”
Shucks, we already know
what caused it. The problem is
holding those responsible ac
countable for their acts.
Greed and gross neglect in
he context of President Rea
an's brand of domestic lais
si'i faire brought on not only
the Savings and Loan scan
dal but many of the other
problems our nation is now
facing. And, unfortunately,
George Bush hasn't demon
strated the quality of leader
ship needed as this crisis
worsens.
IHjRonald Reagan came into
office demanding that Con
>ss get the government off
peoples' backs. In the course
of his administration many
idlings were deregulated -- the
Airlines to bring on higher
ires, the trucking industry to
oring on higher freight — but
ydten he signed the S & L
deregulation bill he remark
ed, "I think we have hit the
jackpot."
Truly, we had. Not only for
the thrift industry depositors,
>ut for the high flyers andttW’
nsiders with government
connections. Depositors went
the S & L’s to take advan
e of unusually high inter
st rates with relatively no
sk to themselves. High fly
ers went to the S & L's for
loans, often based on inflated
rfeal estate values, which
would bring a rate of return
high enough to enable the S &
L's to keep bringing the depos
Mrs in. And the insiders, for
a small service charge, you
know, could help put the fix on
jgovernment regulators.
Continued On Page 12
GOING HOME—Marines guide a disabled helicopter into a C-130 cargo plane for shipment to
its home base at South Weymouth, Mass. The helo was forced to make an emergency landing at
the Edenton Airport three weeks ago after developing an in-flight mechanical problem on a
flight from New River Marine Corps Air Station. (See story and additional pictures on page IB)
Trial Date Is Jeopardized
By JACK GROVE
An early October trial date,
set by assigned Superior Court
Judge Bradford Tillery in the
Little Rascals Day Care case,
may be in jeopardy as the re
sult of a ruling by the N.C.
Court of Appeals.
The appellate court has is
sued a temporary stay in any
trial proceedings in order to
consider a request by the pros
ecution that the seven defen
dants in the case be tried sep
arately.
The state filed motions to
the appeals court for Writs of
Certiorari aqd Supersedeas
' and Application for Tempo
rary Stay. The certiorari writ
is an order by the higher court
for the superior court to for
ward the record of the hear
ings for joinder of the cases.
The supersedeas writ would be
a judgment of the higher court
overturning the lower court's
ruling on joinder.
Defense attorneys had re
quested Judge Tillery last
spring to join the defendants'
cases in one trial, maintain
ing that this would ease the
emotional trauma of the al
leged child sexual abuse vic
tims by only having to testify
during one trial instead of
seven trials.
On the other hand, District
Attorney H.P. Williams ar
gued that only the prosecution,
by long-standing tradition,
had the right to request join
der for trial.
After Judge Tillery ruled
for the defense at the first
hearing, the prosecution re
newed its objection at a subse
quent hearing and again lost
out to the defense.
This prompted the state on
July 27 to submit the request to
the court of appeals to overturn
Judge Tillery's ruling.
The wait for appeals court
action is not the only obstacle
to an early trial date. There
are still a series of prelimi
nary defense motions to be
heard prior to trial.
In another local child sex
ual abuse case, in which Little
Rascals defendants, Robert F.
Kelly, Willard Scott Privott
and Darlene Harris are also
charged along with Bruce
Allen Bunch, Superior Court
Judge G.K Butterfield was to
have reached a decision on a
motion Monday.
At a hearing three weeks
ago, Judge Butterfield direct
I Soundside Drive Tract Rezoned
Chowan County Commis
Jsioners opened their monthly
leeting Monday evening
[with a public hearing on re
oning a tract of property on
[Soundside Drive to residen
tial from industrial. The tract
[is bordered by T-Lok Corp.
ad the old military swim
sing pool.
The room was packed with
jproperty owners, several of
f>vhom spoke fervently for the
rezoning. Kenneth Thorson
told the board that he was told
the property was zoned resi
dential when he bought one
and a half acres of the tract in
1964.
Another property owner,
Thomas Basnight, also un
derstood it wqs residential
property when he bought five
acres in 1984.
County Manager Cliff
Copeland noted that the prop
’
erty was rezoned to industrial
about five years ago. At that
time, the county thought the
designation would better fit
surrounding property.
No one present spoke a
gainst the rezoning and, in
accordance with a recom
mendation of the Planning
Board and deed restrictions of
present property owners that
call for residential use, com
Continued On Page 12
[ORIAL-George Stokes, Chairman of the Veterans Memorial
; BITE APPROVED FOR
•Committee, presents the plans and site recommendation to county commissioners for a veterans
memorial that will honor all the county's veterans, living and dead. The commission board
approved a site at the comer of Oaurt and Queen Streets.
ed the prosecution and defense
to submit written briefs to him
by August 6 outlining whether
or not the judge had the auth
ority to stay trial of the case
until after trial of the day care
Continued On Page 12
Pump Prices
Show Increase
By JACK GROVE
Gasoline prices at the pump
in Eden ton have shot up 10
cents in the past week and
more increases are antici
pated according to local deal
ers and distributors.
The local prices reflect the
national average price in
crease of 10 cents for regular
unleaded gas at self-service
pumps.
A check with the five Eden
ton service stations shows that
all have increased by the
same amount since Friday,
passing on price rises from
their suppliers. Average local
price for self-service regular
unleaded was just over $1.19
Tuesday.
The price hikes were spur
red by events in the Middle
East that began early last
week when OPEC, acting on
demands by Iraq, announced
a higher price for crude oil.
Iraq's invasion of the oil-rich
sheikdom of neighboring Ku
wait triggered immediately
higher prices by American re
finers late last week.
Steve Leary of Leary Oil
Co., an Edenton oil and gas
distributor, pointed out that
service station operators and
wholesalers were at the mercy
of refiners. He said that there
was no local control of gat
prices.
Consumers were paying
Continued On Page 12
Scams
Noted
Flim flam artists have re
portedly been active recently
in neighboring counties. Fa
vorite targets seem to be older
residents.
In Bertie County, an elder
ly woman accepted an offer to
pave her driveway. A thin
layer of asphalt was poured
and she was charged $1,600.
She refused to pay more than
$1,000, however.
Other scam operators have
contacted elderly residents,
telling them that bacteria has
been found in septic tanks.
They offer to take care of the
"problem." One senior citi
zen who accepted the offer was
Continued On Page 12
Smoke Detectors To Be Required
Edenton Town Council has
received word that, due to spe
cial legislation passed by the
General Assembly, residen
tial rental units will soon be
safer places to live.
The council had asked
Rep. R.M. (Pete) Thompson to
sponsor a bill in the General
Assembly that would give
Edenton the authority to re
quire owners of buildings
with one or more residential
rental units to install smoke
detectors. The request was
prompted by a fire fatality last
winter.
Fire Chief Lynn Perry
brought the proposal to the
council's attention after the
death of a citizen whose rental
home was not equipped with
smoke detectors.
"Had smoke detectors been
installed, this fatality might
have been avoided," said Per
ry. "Smoke detectors increase
the margin of safety for
people. It hopefully gives them
advanced warning of the
danger - enough advanced
warning to get out of the house
Continued On Page 12
DR. BOND HONORED-The Edenton Rotary Club recently honored Dr. Ed Bond as a Paul
Harris Fellow. "The presentation of a certificate, medallion and pin represent an expression of
appreciation for his personal contributions to the community and the humanitarian efforts that
demonstrate a shared purpose with the objectives of the Rotary Foundation," said club president
Cam Byrum. Looking on is Mrs. Bond as Byrum (center) makes the presentation.
Child Care Program May Be Curtailed
By MARGUERITE MCCALL
"Home Is Where The
Learning Begins" is the
theme adopted by Edenton
Chowan Schools for the 1990
91 school year, reported Ma
linda McGlone at Monday
night's Board of Education
meeting.
"Families must instill in
their children the value of
learning and education," she
said. "They must provide a
home environment that is
conducive to learning."
Local focus on family in
volvement coincides with the
North Carolina Department of
Publie Instruction's "Parents
Are The Key To Better
Schools" <project. Nine differ
ent areas of parent involve
ment, selected by the State Su
perintendent, will be high
lighted during the school
year.
Ms. McGlone discussed the
success of the Before-After
School Care Program, but
added that "only a little over
$1,000 remained" of an initial
$30,000 grant.
"We're out of funding,"
she said. "To continue the
program, parents will have to
pay, or we will have to find the
money somewhere."
Board members Alice
Jones and J.M. Parrish sug
gested cutting administration
costs for before-after school
care by using teachers' aids
instead of certified teachers.
They also discussed investi
gating the possibility of
utilizing people in the com
munity who might be inter
Continued On Page 12
Boat Injures Local Man
An Arrowhead Beach man
was seriously injured in a
boating accident on Sunday
afternoon, July 29 on the Cho
wan River.
Robert N. Kirk, Jr., 27, son
of Jean and Robert N. Kirk,
Sr. of Arrowhead, apparently
stood up in the front of a boat
operated by a friend, when the
boat suddenly decelerated and
then accelerated.
Kirk was thrown out and,
according to his mother, his
left leg was almost severed by
the boat's propeller.
The occupants of the boat
.... l
_
l
got Kirk back into the boat and
he was taken to Cannon's
Ferry where he was picked up
by the rescue squad and
transported to Chowan Hos
pital. He was transferred to
Pitt Memorial Hospital where
he was admitted in critical
condition.
On Tuesday of this week,
his condition was reported as
"good" by a hospital spokes
man.
The N.C. Wildlife Service
is conducting an investiga
tion of the accident