Wednesday, February 18, 2004
A winter ice storm late Sunday night hit Chowan County leaving close to three inches of snow and ice behind, making
driving conditions treacherous for motorists. According to preliminary reports by the State Highway Patrol, the driver
of this vehicle lost control after hitting a patch of ice on Hwy. 32 near the Albemarle Sound Bridge. Officials said the
driver escaped unharmed. Attempts to obtain additional information as of presstime were unsuccessful. (Staff photo
bv Anaela Perez)
One-on-One Program still helps youth
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
Over the past eight years,
Mildred Vanterpool has seen
more than 100 at-risk youths
said. And then there’s the vast
financial savings of keeping
youths out of lockup. A year
in training school costs tax
payers $47,000 per youth in
mate.
send for them,” she added.
Program graduates have
gone off to college and gradu
ated. They’ve gone to bootcamp
and become military men and
women. They’ve achieved
One, Vanterpool said.
Then there are the volun
teers, the 20 adults who sacri
fice their time. There are cur
rently 11 youths matched with
mentors. Men and women,
ii»y xjuvti uui o
One-on-One Program
in Chowan County.
Some arrived with
negative outlooks,
troubled histories,
dour attitudes. Yet
many went away
roused to follow a
trouble-free path,
Vanterpool said last
week. Vanterpool,
the county’s prograirl
director, said One-on
One pairs volunteer
mentors with youths
age six to 19. Typi
cally, the program
targets at-risk youths
14 and under, she
added.
. It's all a case of
giving back, she said.
“I think all of us
owe somethin? tn rmr
At rignt, Tront row, Chris Bean passes the torch to Stella Brothers, left
front, the new chairman of the Governor's One-on-One program in Chowan
County. Also pictured are other board members and volunteers. (Contrib
uted photo)
people oi aii races, are
all needed to volun
teer..
“We’re always on
the lookout for good !
people who are com- (
mitted to mentoring'
children,” Vanterpool j
said. “And that’s what
you have to be (as a
One-on-One mentor),
committed.”
Finally, there’s the
board that helps Van
terpool and program
assistant Jennifer Har
ris keep the program
running smoothly.
Stella Brothers was
recently named chair
man of the county
program’s board of di
rectors. Brothers has
been involved with the
community,” Vanterpool said
during an interview earlier
this month. “To me, there’s
no greater purpose than to
make the lives of others bet
ter.”
The long-term benefits are
substantial, she said. Detach
ing kids from the court sys
tem, or keeping them out of
legal trouble altogether, has
a huge societal impact, she
“We’re helping to make a
change,” she said, “instead of
(joining those who) criticize
what children do wrong.”
Statistics show that kids in
mentoring programs avoid
drugs and crime more than
youths that don’t take advan
tage of such offerings. Parents
rave about the One-on-One pro
gram, Vanterpool said.
“Some have said it’s a god
things they previously either
didn’t want, or didn’t know
could happen for them,
Vanterpool said.
“We do have quite a few suc
cess stories,” she said. And that
success is made possible with
the help of local organizations
such as the Chowan Arts
Council and Shepard-Pruden
Memorial Library, which both
lend their services to One-on
uiu lux uiwi v uiiui
eight years.
“We feel very privileged to
have her on the board,”
Vanterpool said.
For more about the pro
gram or how you can volun
teer, call 482-6585. After being
screened, all volunteers re
ceive training. Volunteers
must be at least 18 years old
and personal transportation is
preferred, Vanterpool said.
Town receives
a dean audit
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
A recent audit for the Town
of Edenton places its book
keeping in line with state-pre
scribed standards.
Town Manager Anne-Marie
Knighton said the town’s Fund
Balance cash reserves are at
9.5 percent. An 8-percent level
is required under state law,
Knighton added.
The Town Council approved
accepting the audit during a
Feb. 10 meeting.
Sonja Hibbard again per
formed the audit for the town.
During a Jan. 26 meeting,
Knighton told council that the
town’s General Fund has re
mained stable over the past 10
years. The amount of dollars
transferred from the town
owned electric system to use
for spending has decreased sig
nificantly over the past seven
years, Knighton added.
Council has suggested plac
ing an additional $25,000 annu
ally into the General Fund for
10 years to boost cash reserves
by $250,000.
The town’s cash reserves
have taken hits on at least two
fronts over the past couple of
years. In 2002 the state with
held tax reimbursements that
had historically been passed
along to municipalities. Kni
ghton said town Finance Di
rector Janet Hines has esti
mated Edenton lost as much as
$273,000 in withheld tax reim
bursements.
More recently, a Septem
ber hurricane resulted in un
expected spending to repair
damaged infrastructure.
Knighton said the federal
government may not reim
burse the town for. money
spent on repairs due to Hur
ricane Isabel.
The lost tax reimburse
ments alone would have
pushed the town’s cash re
serves, to a 17 or 18 percent
level, Knighton told council
in January.
at the upcoming Pasta and Pottery Fundraiser.
uli- controversy attracting national media attention
BY ANuELA PEREZ
Staff Writer
Last Thursday, writers and
photographers from two na
tionally recognized newspa
pers visited Washington
County to cover the ongoing
controversy surrounding the
Navy’s proposed outlying land
ing field site (OLF). Felicity
Barringer (writer) and Jim
Wilson (photographer) with
the New York Times and
Charles Seabrook, an environ
mental writer, with the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution have
written feature stories on the
thorny issue. Seabrook’s story
F/A-18 Super Hornet Jet
broke last Sunday and was dis
tributed via email to regional
newspapers owned by the
Constitution’s parent com
pany, Cox Newspapers. At
press time, The New York
Times piece had not been pub
lished. “The N.C. Natural Re
source Group is excited about
the national exposure being
given this irresponsible and
dangerous decision made by
the U.S. Navy,” said Joe Albea,
of the N.C. Natural Resource
Group, in a recent press re
lease. “It is our belief that
once citizens across the coun
try understand what is at stake
and that there are alternatives
- a better site can emerge.”
One alternative offered by
Sen. Marc Basnight was that
the Navy build an offshore
floating platform to practice its
carrier landings for the F/A-18
Super Hornet jets instead of in
Washington County. Basnight
and his staff researched such
possibilities saying that such
structures have been built and
successfully used in both Eu
rope and Asia. They Navy’s
response, however, was that an
offshore platform simply could
not be developed within a rea
sonable time frame for use by
the Navy, according to Ted
Brown, spokesman for the
Navy’s Fleet Forces Command.
With the Navy’s refusal to
entertain alternate sites or
proposals, Washington and
Beaufort counties, along with
the National Audubon Society,
North Carolina Wildlife Fed
eration, and Defenders of
Wildlife, filed a joint motion in
federal court last week for a
preliminary injunction ag
ainst the Navy to halt its pur
chase of land in Washington
County
The motion alleges that the
Navy failed to “comply with
the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) and related
federal regulations in the
preparation of the Final Envi
ronmental Impact Statement”,
according to Kennedy Cov
ington Attorneys at Law. The
law firm stated the Nav y failed
to take a “hard look” not only
at environmental impacts on
the Pocosin Lakes National
Wildlife Refuge, but also at al
ternative sites to constructing
an OLF elsewhere.
INSIDE THIS WEEK
Aces football star
Steve Jordan inks with
WSSU Rams_1-B
Tundra swans could be
affected by
Edenton Bap
tist Church
domerepaired........7-C
A celebration of Black
History._10-C
PLUS... AUCTION • Sat., February 21 • 5 - 7 p.m. • Eat-In or Me-Out • *6°* per plate • Sponsored by Rocky Hock Ruritans • Auction Starts at 7:30 p.m. • ADVANCE TICKETS OR AT DOOR
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