Wednesday, December 3, 2003
Criteria
for aid
outlined
BY ANGELA PEREZ
Staff Writer
To provide additional assis
tance to victims of the Septem
ber hurricane, members of the
Hurricane Isabel Unmet Needs
Fund committee will be accept
ing financial assistance appli
cations for the second round of
distribution at Swain Audito
rium beginning Wednesday,
December 3rd from 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. Approved applicants will
be granted up to $250.00 to pay
recent or current utility bills.
Applications will be accepted
each work-week day until the
fund of roughly $40 - $45,000 is
completely distributed.
The Hurricane Isabel Unmet
Needs Fund is intended for
Chowan County victims who,
regardless of income:
1) Have immediate needs but
cannot get assistance from
other sources, including gov
ernment programs.
2 Cannot wait until they re
ceive other assistance.
3) Have losses that are not
covered by insurance.
All applicants must demon
strate proof of loss. Those
losses include:
1) Actual loss of wages or in
come. For example, due to the
hurricane, your place of em
ployment was closed for 5 days
and you were not paid for those
5 days of lost work. Unmet
Needs Fund workers will
verify claims for lost wages
with the employer or appli
cants may bring in paycheck
stubs to prove loss.
2) Homeowners who suf
fered property damage. Appli
cants must bring in evidence
of their loss, including insur
ance statements or copies of
receipts for repair work.
3) Renters who experienced
personal-property loss that is
not covered by their landlord.
Danfage to rental housing that
is covered by the landlord or
owner is not an eligible claim.
All applicants are asked to
bring a form of identification
and current or most recent
See AID On Page 3-A
Local merchants say holiday shopping in Edenton is off to a strong start. Early indica
tions are that retail sales will be as good or better than last year's. Above, Nancy Winslow,
owner of Top Sale Realty, shops at Good Tastes. (Staff photo by Tamika Spruill)
Holiday shopping off to
a strong start in town
BY TAMiKA SPRUILL
Staff Writer
Christmas is one of Am
erica’s favorite times of year.
Despite that fact shopping dur
ing the Christmas holiday can
be frantic with overcrowded
stores and long lines. Consid
ering all the damge from Hur
ricane Isabel, though, Edenton
merchants weren’t exactly
sure what to expect as the holi
day season approached. But
they are all smiles now.
“Business has been picking
up since the start of the holiday
season. People have been buy
ing an egual amount of jewelry
and gifts. Diamonds are a favor
ite so far this year,” says Peggy
Anne Vaughan of Vaughan’s
Jewelry. “The community of
Edenton has always been good
to Vaughan's. We appreciate
their continued support.”
This seems to be the trend for
local merchants including
Good Tastes and The Christian
Bookseller.
“Business has picked up tre
mendously since Isabel. We are
on par with last year,” Gloria
Willis owner of The Christian
Booksellers notes. “A majority
of my customers are buying
Bibles, Christmas ornaments,
cards and music.”
At Good Taste, located in his-,
toric downtown Edenton,
they’ve has seen a change in
what customers are looking for
this year.
“People want functional
things now,” says Good Taste’s
candy maker Lori Ann. “They
want so4et.hins that looks
pretty a;iO works. People are
buying a lot of kitchenware and
usable accessories.1'
Even though the local and
national economy has just
started to see improvement,
many holiday shoppers are buy
ing the same amount as they
did last year and perhaps a little
more.
“I’ll do the same as I did last
year,” says Edenton resident
and Top Sale Realty owner
Nancy Winslow.
Many shoppers have found
reasons to do a little more holi
day shopping than usual.
“I’m definitely shopping
more this year,” says Pat Waff,
an employee of White Oak El
ementary School. “I just got a
new grandchild.”
Debris issue
still exists in
BYTAMIKA SPRUILL
Staff Writer
Debris pickup in Chowan
County was still a big issue at
Monday night’s County Commis
sioners Meeting.
Peter Rascoe, Special Pro-jects
Coordinator for Edenton and
Chowan County sites the prob
lem that residents are still putting
out debris after the second round
of debris pickup.
“We still have people putting
trash out after the second round
of pickups,” he stated. “FEMA
will not pay for a third round of
pickups. They (FE-MA) photo
graph roads that have been
cleaned after the second rounds.”
A majority of the “newly ap
pearing” debris is not Isabel re
lated. One commissioner raised
the possibility of putting out
signs announcing “this road has
been cleaned by FEMA, you are
now responsible for you are own
debris removal.” Despite all of
this Rascoe stills remains opti
mistic about the situation.
“We only have about ten more
days of pick-up in the county The
debris removal contractor wants
to be finished completely by De
cember 20,” he noted. “Weshould
I see the light at
k the end of the
H tunnel soon.” ;
ft Isabel re
Jft lated issues still
| dominated a
1 majority of the
f agenda at the
Commission
:S.
Rascoe
ers meeting, an
issue, County
Manager Cliff
Copeland stated that has to be
worked through.
“The response to the hurricane
is time consuming. I ask that ev
eryone please be patient We will
move forward,” Copeland noted.
“When Peter Rascoe gets 45 calls
during the Thanksgiving Holi
days about Isabel related issues,
the after effects of Isabel are still
a big issue.”
So far Chowan County has
spent $1,127,761 to put the covmty
back together after Isabel’s dev
astation. Chowan County has
been reimbursed approximately
$600,000 from FEMA with paper
work still being processed. The
county has also received $406,000
from insurance that will be used
for the restoration/renovation of
Swain Auditorium, Chowan Arts
Council and the Senior Center.
Cost of burying
lines "significant'
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
A state survey has put a
hefty price tag on burying
power lines in North Carolina,
while Edenton has yet to begin
its study of putting its lines
underground.
A report released by the
state Utilities Commission last
month stated burying power
lines in the state would take 25
years, at a cost of $41 billion.
The task would increase power
customers’ monthly bills by
more than 125 percent. In ef
fect, a $100 light bill in Edenton
would jump to $225 to pay for
such a project.
In late October, Edenton
Mayor Roland Vaughan was
tasked with selecting a com
mittee to study the time and
cost of burying the town’s
power lines. The town was
without power for nearly a
week after Hurricane Isabel
See LINES On Page 3-A
Farm-City Banquet awards are presented
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
With the numbers of family
farms increasingly shrinking
across the U.S., production and
profitability continue to gain im
portance in agriculture.
Chowan County farmers cel
ebrated their know-how last
week at the annual Farm-City
Awards Banquet. With Thanks
giving in mind, local agriculture
was touted as a cornerstone of
the local economy
County Commissioner board
chairman Louis Belfield grew up
on a family farm in Chowan. He
praised the sacrifices and
struggles farmers endure to
bring food to tables across the
country, and make a profit while
doingit
; “I know firsthand the benefits
and hard work of afarminglife,”
Belfield said.
Edenton Mayor Roland Vau
ghan, a veteran commodities bro
ker, heralded the economic sig
nificance of Chowan farmers
and livestock producers.
! Chowan farmers’ produced
nearly $34.8 million in crops and
livestock in2001, according to the
latest figures available from the
state Department of Agriculture
■and Consumer Services Web site.
< But tobacco buyouts and pea
From left, Sarah Hupp and Kelsey Uchtenwalner accept their Outstanding 4-H'er of the
Year awards from Bob Gaines of the Chowan-Edenton Optimist Club, while Dick Vail and
Leonard Small applaud. (Staff photo by Sean Jackson)
nut quotas have posed problems
for farmers In recent years.
And county farmers were not
spared the wrath of alate-sum
mer hurricane that struck when
some crops were nearly ready for
harvest
Dick Vail, keynote speaker fob
the annual event, listed some of
the damage Chowan farmers suf
fered from Hurricane Isabel.
Crops suffered an estimated $9.4
million in damage, while equip
ment and buildings took an $8.5
million hit.
More than28,000acres of farm
saasjwKS
land were affected
According to the 1997 Census
of Agriculture, there are 151
farms in Chowan, with 36,269
acres erf harvested cropland.
Last year, Chowan ranked sev
enth out of 100 counties in the
state in peanut production (15.8
wmmmmmimmwemmmwmm
million pounds), eighteenth in
cotton (23,500 bales), thirty-fourth
in com (376,00pounds), and sixty
fifth in tobacco (1,990 pounds).
While businessmen and politi
cians rubbed shoulders with hog
farmers and peanut growers,
awards were given to some of the
top men, women, and youths in
the Chowan agribusiness com
munity
• Peanut grower A. J. Smith and
Sons was recognized for the 2002
Peanut Award presented by Vic
Alexander, president of the
Edenton-Chowan Chamber of
Commerce, for producing a yield
of 4,766 pounds per acre on 155
acres.
• Michelle Bunch and Angela
Toppin were co-winners of the
2003 Women in Agriculture
honor presented by Virginia
Hobbs, an advisor with the
Chowan Extension and Commu
nity Assocation.
• Kelsey Lichtenwalner and Sa
rah Hupp were named the Out
standing 4-H’ers and were pre
sented plaques by Bob Gaines of
the Chowan-Edenton Optimist
Club.
• The brother team of Kenneth
and R ichard Goodwin shared the
2003 Outstanding Young Farmer
award presented by Jimmie
Parrish, president of the Chowan
County Farm Bureau.
Tour
tickets
on sale
Tickets are on sale now for
the annual Christmas Can
dlelight Tour in Edenton
which will take place Friday,
Dec. 12 and Saturday, Dec. 13.
Hours will be 4-8 p.m.
Tickets are $25 per person;
children 12 and under admit
ted free. To purchase yours,
call (252) 482-2637. 1
INSIDE THIS WEEK
Aces 2003- \
2004 hoops
season un
derway
Local educators re
ceive national board
certifiction _5-D
Counties file suit
agalnstthe
Navy-5-*