Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / Jan. 12, 2000, edition 1 / Page 1
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Published in historic Edenton ...The prettiest town on the North Carolina coast. Vol. ixvil, No. 2 : Wednesday, January 12, 2000 Census support is critical “Participating in Census 2000 is in everyone’s best interest.” That’s the message that District Health Department Health Educa tor Jill Jordan and other members of the local Census committee hope to bring to local residents in the months between now and Census Day, April 1. Jordan said there are a number of reasons why people should an swer the questions on this year’s census forms. “People who answer the census help their communities obtain state and federal funding, as well as providing valuable information for planning schools, employment services, housing assistance, hos pital services, highway construc tion, programs for the elderly and physically challenged, and other community services,” she said. “Census information helps deci sion-makers understand which neighborhoods need new schools and which ones need greater ser vices for’the elderly,” Jordan added. “The best way to make sure people in your community are rep resented in the census is to simply fill out the form and mail it back.” Jordan said those answering the questions need not fear that the information will be used against them. “Individual answers are com bined with others to produce the statistical summaries that are pub lished,” she said. “No one will ever be able to connect the answers with a particular individual’s name or See CENSUS On Page 3-A Seeking return to office Chowan County Board of Elections Supervisor Rebecca Lowe (seated) collects the necessary paperwork from incumbent Rep. Bill Culpepper (seated), D-Chowan, who seeks to hold his seat in the North Carolina General Assembly. Awaiting their turn are (standing) Chowan County Commissioner Harry Lee Winslow and Chowan County Register of Deeds Sue Rountree. Other incumbents who have filed to keep their seats are Chowan County Commissioners George Jones and James Taylor. Dr. Jerry Downum, who also serves as a Chowan County Commissioner, has indicated he intends to seek re-election as well. Reward offered in ‘nail’ incidents BY SUSAN HARRIS Cox NC Publications The victims hope the perpetra tors get hailed. Perquimans and Chowan resi dents are flocking 10 tire centers and service stations to have tires repaired or replaced after running over roofing nails that are show ing up by the handfuls in drive ways, farm paths, and even road ways. The areas hit so far are be tween Sandy Cross and County Line roads, Great Hope Church and Beech Springs roads, and the 4 mile Desert. The highest concen tration has been in the Belvidere area. Perquimans Sheriff Eric Tilley said his department received over 20 calls between the first reported incident around Dec. 17 and Dec. 28. Tilley added that he had heard of many unreported incidents and that the Chowan County Sheriffs Department is also investigating similar incidents, r~ Neither department has had any complaints in the last week. From what Tilley can piece to gether, he said it appears the nail throwing may be hunt club related. Lots of fingers are being pointed, / See NAIL On Pad; 3-A Board eyes new K-5 school plan BY REBECCA BUNCH Editor The Chowan County Commis sioners and the Edenton-Chowan Board of Education will hold a joint meeting Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. at the COA Chowan County Center in Edenton to discuss a proposal by the school board that would result in construction of a second school at the White Oak Elementary site. The second building would house students in grades 3-5. The action follows a retreat and a public report of that gathering made by Dr. Allan Smith, superin tendent of schools, during the Board of Education’s monthly meeting last week. Dr. Smith said that during the retreat, the school board engaged in “very fruitful, open, honest dis cussions” as it looked at a number of possibilities for the future of elementary education county wide. Following what he said was “not an easy discussion,” Dr. Smith announced that the board was giv ing “very serious consideration” to backing a plan that would put the county’s entire elementary school-age population at the Sandy Ridge Road site that currently is home to White Oak Elementary School. He said that the school board would ask the Chowan County Commissioners for assis tance in paying for construction of a second elementary school at the site for grades 3-5. Smith stressed that the principal and teachers currently at Walker School would fill those same roles at the new facility. “We realize this will not be an immediate, short-term solution,’’ Dr. Smith said. However, he said the board felt this was the solution . that best served the interests of the; county’s children over the long’ term. In announcing the board’s deci; sion, Dr. Smith said that there were serious problems with the Walker ' facility and that it would cost as * much, if not more, to rehabilitate - that site than to simply close it and - build elsewhere. Dr. Smith noted that the board of education had listed the pressing needs of Walker School second only to a new White Oak School on its needs list for some time. Now, he - said, with White Oak students in - their new school, the board dan turn its attention to the needs at D.F. Walker. Those needs, he said, include “a modernized facil ity.... that will better serve the young children of today.” -j He said that in addition to an aging facility; the children who attend the school must face safety issues that are “also a big concern” to the board. “We have looked into the cost of repairing Walker, and those costs were much higher than we had anticipated,” he said. “Our archi tect has told us it would probably be less expensive to just build at a new site.” He added that while White Oak. and D.F. Walker would be main tained at the Sandy Ridge site as two separate schools, it would p. u vide a place “where they can share ' a lot of things as well.. .Most impor tant to us, we asked ourselves, what See DATE On Page 3-A Dr King’s life, work to be remembered A celebration honoring the life and enduring legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King will be held in Edenton Monday, Jan. 17, beginning at noon, at the Swain Audi torium on Court Street. Keynote speaker for the occasion will be Dr. Sylvester McKay, Presi dent of the College of the Albemarle, Elizabeth City. Dr . McKay was approved by the North Carolina State Board of Community Col leges in January 1999 to become College of The Albemarle’s seventh Presi dent. He began his new po sition Feb. 1. Dr. McKay previously served as the Vice President for Cur riculum and Instructional Tech nology at Guilford Technical Community College since 1993. Under Dr. McKay’s leadership at Guilford Tech, the college W*" Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. added five new degree programs and developed more than 20 col laborative agreements with other community colleges. The college accredited numerous health and engineering technol See KING On Page 8-A King Partnership gets $2,500 expansion grant Chowan County’s Martin Luther King Jr. Partnership earned a $2,500 grant from the N.C. Governor’s Office to help expand activities beyond the cel ebration of King’s birthday, ac cording to A. LaVern Roberts, who' wrote and submitted the proposal to secure the grant. This year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day, celebration is planned for Jan. 17. Roberts coordinates the Chowan-Gates-Perquimans JobReady Partnership, oneofthe 11 local group that cooperate to stage the King Day event. These groups include the Edenton Chowan Chamber of Commerce, the town of Edenton, the Chowan School System, College of the Albemarle, the Civic League, the local NAACP, Family Education Development-Unit Progressing (FED-UP), the Rotary and Lions clubs, the American Legion and See GRANT On Page 8 A Swap Shop’s success may lead to expansion BY REBECCA BUNCH ' Editor If you have an item that's too good to throw away, but you no longer need it, what should you do? Apparently more and more Chowan County residents are find ing an answer that works for them. They are taking part in a recent innovation that has become a popu lar waste reduction tool here: the Swap Shop. The Chowan County Swap Shop is located ort Soundside Road in Edenton, near the local airport. » “The Swap Shop is working out really well,” said Anne Blint of the Albemarle Regional Solid Waste Management Authority. “So far, we have two of them - one in Chowan County, and the other in Currituck. Things are going so well that we’re going to try to develop it in each of the seven other counties we serve.” Blindt said the premise is simple: community residents can visit the Convenience Center on Soundside Road and either drop off reusable items, or pick up several items they can use. “We’ve had a lot of things do nated,” she said, “everything from Con*™™’* SwaP Shop <* toot tpr***' The local Swap Shop, located on Soundside Road near the local airport, is a success with local residents bed frames to bikes, and lots of little household -items such as pic ture frames and light fixtures. There have also been some kitchen appliances and TV’s.” According to Blindt, the self ser vice site operates on the honor sys tem, with local residents being asked abide by a few simple guide lines: See SHOP On Page 8-A Chowan is among expanded quarantine areas The NC Department of Agricul ture and Consumer Services is ex panding a state quarantine area for the imported fire ant in a con tinuing effort to combat this pest. With this expansion, the quaran tine now includes portions or en tire areas of 43 counties, mainly in southeastern North Carolina. Effective immediately, the im ported fire ant quarantine area in Chowan County is being expanded, state officials said. The expanded quarantine area now covers the portion of Chowan County south of a line formed by the junction of the Chowan-Gates County bound ary and NC 32, then south to the junction of NC 32 and NC 37, then east to SR 1002 at the Chowan Perquimans boundary. “These changes reflect the cur rent status of the imported fire ant in North Carolina,” said Agricul ture Commissioner Jim Graham. “We have seen substantial spread of the imported fire ant in many areas of the state due in part to the floods this fall. Conditions over the past few months have created a favorable environment for im ported fire ant reproduction and flight.” Businesses and individuals in the quarantined areas need to ob tain a certificate or permit to move certain materials such as sod, soil, hay and straw, nursery plants, logs, pulpwood, and soil-moving equipment before they can be moved through or to non-quaran tined areas. Imported fire ants can be inad vertently moved in these materi als. “Failure to obtain the needed inspection and certifications will result in the issuance of a stop-sale notice and rejection or destruction of the regulated article,” said Dr. Lloyd Garcia, NC Dept, of Agricul ture and Consumer Services’ En tomological Program Specialist. “An effective regulatory program See ANTS OnVap 3-A
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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Jan. 12, 2000, edition 1
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