THE CHOWAN HERALD
Pub*shed In The Most Beautiful Little City On The North Carolina Coast
Volume LVII - No. 7
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, February 14,1991
Single Copies 35 Cents
ELECTRONIC MONITORING-Chowan Probation and Pa
role Officer Bob Roberson demonstrates the placement of the
ankle sensor for the EHA system. The monitoring unit sits on
the desk, connected to a push button telephone.
• Citizens Concerns Are Quickly Acted On
_ _ . j . C il. . J m/vaam A CnwAwnl rtAAt-\l a nf f Vi A moof- of t*Anf c Tn AAmimpf iAn uri 4- V
Town oinciais wasted no
time in taking action on con
cerns voiced by citizens at the
first Town Meeting held last
week at Swain Auditorium.
Town Manager Anne-Ma
jie Kelly provided a list of
Things done as a result of the
meeting. They included:
• Harry Smith had asked
about a street light promised at
the intersection of Fish Hatch
ery Road ancf West Queen St.
extended. The light was in
stalled Friday.
^ • Jesse Badham had pointed
out a misspelling on a street
sign at the intersection of
Freemason and Oakum Sts.
The sign read "Freeman
son." The town manager
commented, "We took that
down immediately." Since a
replacement sign in stock
was also misspelled, she said
; *a new one had to be ordered.
• Snooky Bond pointed to a
traffic hazard on Dickinson
St. where cars entering the
street from parking lots of
S&R and M.G. Brown were
not stopping. Police Capt.
G.K. Bonner obtained agree
ment from both companies to
®allow the street department to
I install stop signs on their
property. The signs have been
I installed.
• Jeannette Dowd had indi
cated the need for trash re
ceptacles on Broad Street from
Hardees to the Post Office.
Ms. Kelly said that perma
nent enclosures for trash cans
had been ordered and that
Bloodmobile
Scheduled
' 1 The Edenton Jaycees are
hosting a Bloodmobile at the
Edenton United Methodist
Church on Monday, Febru
ary 18, from 2-7 p.m.
With so many service
personnel who have been
regular blood donors now
stationed in the Persian
Gulf, the Red Cross is ur
gently seeking to make up
these donations.
All eligible blood donors
are encouraged to come out
Monday afternoon and give
a unit of blood.
Banquet will hono
the troops in the Gi:
"Keep the Troops in Your
outuv VI KUV UVITHWV 1 VVV(# w . V. f<vvr “
tacles would be replaced as ing expressed concern about
well. speed limits on various
Fourth Defendant
Released On Bond
By JACK GROVE
After 17 months in prison
awaiting trial in the Little
Rascals Day Care case, Kath
ryn Dawn Wilson, 24, was re
leased on bond Thursday.
She joins three other
defendants in the case out on
bond: Shelley Alyce Stone,
Robin Boles Byrum and Dar
lene Harris.
Mrs. Wilson, the mother of
a three-year-old, is charged
with sexually abusing 11
small children at the day
ams has filed a motion for a
.hearing on whether attorney
Jeffery L. Miller should be al
lowed to assist Robert Kelly’s
attorney, W. Michael Spivey,
in his defense. Judge McLel
land assigned Miller to Kel
ly's defense last month in a
court order.
Miller is also the attorney
for Robin Boles Byrum.
In his motion, Williams
asks the court to determine if
Continued On Page 8
Bill Skinner, street depart
ment director, a street survej
was done by the police de
partment and a map posted ir
the Town Hall lobby indicat
ing suggested speed limits
These will be discussed at th<
Public Works Committee
meeting on Monday, Febru
ary 25 at 7 p.m. in the counci
chamber.
• Louise Smith said tha
piles of tree limbs and deai
flower arrangements hai
been left at the cemetery am
that some tombstones were ly
ing on the ground. Ms. Kell;
said that town officials me
with the contractor responsi
ble for cemetery maintenanc
and he removed the piles c
material and promised to rt
move any trash collected i
Continued On Page
At a hearing in December,
Mrs. Wilson's bond was re
duced from $800,000 to
$200,000. The lesser bond was
met by surety bonds on prop
erty owned by family mem
bers.
At the December hearing,
her attorney, Edward B. Sim
mons, asked Superior Court
Judge D. Marsh McLelland to
set a "reasonable bond" of
from $50,000 to $100,000. He
told the judge that it would
"obviously be a year or more
before my client can be tried."
He said there was no evidence
that she wouldn't appear for
trial.
In arguing against the
bond reduction, prosecutor
Nancy Lamb said that alleged
child victims, currently in
therapy, felt safe while she
was locked up. Mrs. Wilson,
"poses a threat of intimida
tion to them" if they saw the
defendant on the street.
As a special condition of
the reduced bond, the judge or
dered that, if released, she re
main out of Chowan County.
Three other defendants re
main jailed. They are Robert
F. Kelly, Jr., his wife, Eliza
beth T. Kelly, and Willard
Scott Privott.
Robert Kelly is scheduled to
be tried first in Farmville on
April 8. No trial dates have
been set for the others.
Court records indicate that
District Attorney H.P. Willi
Public Hearings Lead Council Agenda
Town council led off its
Tuesday evening meeting
with four public hearings. No
public comments were re
ceived. After each hearing
was closed, council promptly
passed the measure.
The first consisted of
amendments to the town's
1988 Albemarle St. Commu
nity Development Block
Grant program. It was ex
plained that three houses,
originally scheduled for de
molition, would be trans
ferred to rehabilitation status.
Also, surplus funds are
available from the program
which will be used to rehabil
itate ten additional homes of
families that qualify finan
cially. One of the criteria to be
used is proximity to the Albe
marle St. target area.
Planning Board Chairwo
man Gail Gieseke reported on
refinements to the town's zon
ing map. She said that the
"downtown commercial"
zoning line would be moved to
exclude two residences.
Concerning the Unified
Development Ordinance,
Mrs. Gieseke explained that
minor changes and adjust
ments were made and in
some sections the ordinance
was "maybe too wordy." She
said that the UDO committee
was meeting at least three
times a month to ensure the
ordinance was current and
applicable.
After the final hearing,
Chowan Hospital was given a
green light to temporarily
place a trailer on its property
to house the oncology clinic.
The clinic has been located in
a section of hospital rooms for
two years. Hospital Admin
istrator Barbara Cale told the
council, "We need the patient
rooms.”
Mrs. Gieseke said the
Planning Board approved the
placement for two years with
the option of an additional six
months.
Mayor John Dowd brought
up the issue of possible con
solidation of town and county
Continued On Page 8
HONORED--E.N. "Pete" Manning (left) and A.B. Harless were presented awards from the
N.C. League of Municipalities Tuesday night by Mayor John Dowd. The awards recognized the
service of the two former town councilmen.
p
If
Heart"
Chamber Ut Commerce Annual .banquet
Saturday, February 16,1991 - 6:30 p.m.
Tickets Available at
the Chamber office or from
Chamber Board members
Electronics Used In Justice System
By JACK GROVE
A new tool in the North
Carolina criminal justice
system was put into effect in
Chowan County this month for
the first time. That tool is
Electronic House Arrest
(EHA).
The system allows judges
an alternative to incarcera
tion in less serious cases. The
program is designed for mis
demeanants, those convicted
of DWI and some felons,
based on suitability for the
program.
Probation and parole offi
cers supervise and monitor
the system for those sentenced
to house arrest.
In an interview this week
Chowan County Probation
and Parole Officer Bob Rober
son described the system and
outlined its advantages.
As an alternative to incar
ceration, it is intended to ease
overcrowding of local jails
and the prison system.
It also saves the justice sys
tem a lot of money. Figures
from the Dept, of Crime Con
trol and Public Safety show
that imprisonment in state
institutions costs $47.50 a day
per inmate. Chowan Chief
Jailer Walt Linhardt said the
local cost per day per prisoner
is $37.
Cost per day for EHA is
$4.60 for the first year and
less than $2 a day thereafter.
The system consists of a
monitor, hooked by telephone
line from the home to a com
puter in Raleigh, and a small
sensor strapped to the leg of the
probation office's "client."
If the person moves a cer
tain distance (kept confiden
tial) away from the monitor,
an automatic signal is sent tc
Raleigh. The computer there
immediately notifies Rober
son's field supervisor in
Windsor and Roberson is in
turn notified.
The Chowan officer saic
that if the client left the prem
ises, it would be considered t
probation violation, an arresl
warrant would be obtainec
and a court probation viola
tion hearing would be held.
There are several checks
built into the system. The cli
ent must first provide a voic<
sample via telephone to th<
Raleigh computer. In subse
quent phone checks, the com
puter would be able to recog
nize his voice. "The voice is
as accurate as a fingerprint,"
Roberson noted.
The computer automatical
ly makes these voice checks
during the day. If the phone is
busy, the caller is notified to
get off the line immediately
in order for the check to take
place.
Clients are allowed to hold
jobs and the computer is pro
grammed accordingly for the
periods of authorized absence.
Roberson makes weekly
checks to the home to ensure
the equipment has not been
tampered with. He also must
make a weekly check with the
employer to verify the client
has been on the job.
The ankle sensor is worn
24 hours a day and is attached
so that it cannot be easily re
moved. It is completely water
proof, Roberson said.
Each EHA unit costs about
$2,000. However, "the unit can
Continued On Page 8
Man Caught At Scene
Break-In Cases Solved
Edenton Police caught a
would-be thief in the act last
Wednesday night during a
break-in at George Chevrolet
after receiving a telephone
call from someone in the
neighborhood.
Police Chief C.H. Willi
i ams said that Officers Wayne
Forehand, Chris Joyner and
Sgt. Joe Norman responded to
> the call and arrested Gerald
Williams, 26, of Edenton, in
side the building.
Williams had gained en
try by breaking a window into
a restroom, then crossed the
repair shop and broke another
window to gain access to the
showroom.
According to the police
chief, Williams then went to
the second floor and walked a
beam across the repair area to
a floor above the parts depart
1 ment. It was there that he was
taken into custody. The sus
I pect hadn't had time to take
anything of value and was
t charged with breaking and
i entering. He is in the Chowan
1
Banquet Flans bet
t The public is invited to join
- the Edenton-Chowan Cham
* ber of Commerce at its annual
f banquet Saturday, February
- 16.
i The theme for the banquet
8 will be "Keep the Troops in
Your Heart," in honor of the
servicemen and women ser
ving in Operation Desert
Storm.
Tickets are available at the
Chamber office or from any
Chamber board member.
County Jail in lieu of $10,000
bond.
Two other break-ins occur
red early Friday morning.
An officer on routine patrol
discovered a broken side win
dow at Golden Corral around
3 a.m. Chief Williams said
Continued On Page 8
POW Flag
Is Donated
A special ceremony will be
held at noon Monday in front
of the new courthouse for a
presentation of a POW flag to
the county, Nancy Morgan of
the County Manager's office
announced yesterday.
The flag will be presented
by Tom Hall, a pilot in Viet
nam, who was a POW there
for seven years. Hall is a
resident of Center Hill.
The flag will fly under the
American flag at the court
house.