Commissioners look at expansion BY EARLINE WHITE Staff Writer At the Commissioner’s meet ing on Monday, April 5, the topic of Edenton’s expansion echoed through every presen tation. Elizabeth Bryant with the Planning and Inspections report informed the Board of the three ^proposed subdivi sions that will be erected on Macedonia Road, Morris Lane, and Tip Toe Road respectively. Commissioner Ralph Cole gave a brief talk on the North Carolina’s Northeast Tourism Conference that he attended in March. He returned with fig ures about North Carolina; $32.8 million are brought to NC daily through the tourism in dustry, making NC the 6th larg est tourist state in the country. He also reported that Hwy. 17 out of Chesapeake is 30% com plete, with the final date being set for 2006. Every growing area is con See EXPANSION Page 3-A Tanner Bloom Hawkins Gagnon Students selected Two John A. Holmes High School students received news last week of their selection to attend the Governor’s School of North Carolina. Rising seniors Tanner Bloom and Hawkins Gagnon will attend the school from June 13 until July 24. Gagnon will attend Governor’s School East, at Meredith College in Raleigh where he will study natural science. Bloom will at tend Governor’s School West, at Salem College in Winston Salem where she will study English. They will join 800 other Governor’s School se lectees from around the state. The Governor’s School of North Carolina is the oldest statewide summer residential program for academically or intellectually gifted high school students in the nation. The program is open to rising seniors. “These students sure exem plary of hard work and good See STUDENTS On 3-A Staff photo by Earline White Chowan County Commission chair Louis Belfield, right, presents Willie Boone a plaque in recognition of his assistance during the storm debris cleanup after Hurricane Isabel. Boone supervised the monitoring of the cleanup contactors, as required by FEMA, during the recovery. Corrections officers are charged with vandalism BY SEAN JACKSON Staff Writer A pair of correctional offic ers with a Hertford County federal prison were arrested recently for going on an al leged vandalism spree in Edenton. Benjamin Albert Smith wick, 26,. of 216 Elm Grove Road, Colerain, and Dale Joel Tann Jr., 25, of 409 Cofield Road, Ahoskie, were arrested March 24. Both were charged with injury to real property and injury to personal prop erty. Smithwick and Tann, both employed at Rivers Cor rectional Institution in Win ton, are believed to have used a slingshot loaded with steel balls to damage businesses and vehicles in Edenton and Chowan County. Edenton police were tipped about the vandals. Law en forcement pursued the men after the late-afternoon spree, with the Gates County Sheiff’s Department finally stopping the pair, police Chief Greg Bonner said. They are scheduled to ap pear in a Chowan County courtroom April 27. Neither Smithwick nor Tann offered any plausible ex planation for their alleged ac tions, Bonner said. “They had no particular reason why they were doing it,” Bonner said. “It’s the kind of thing you would expect of a teenager ... They had a total disregard for the properties of others, no doubt about that.” Windows of businesses and vehicles were damaged during the late-day spree. Targeted Edenton businesses included Hobbs Implement Company, Edenton Tractor, Rochelle Cleaners, and John A. Holmes High School. Cars were tar See CHARGED Page 3-A Staff photo by Eanme White Workers make repairs to the roof of the Northeast Partnership building on the Edenton waterfront. After a nearly seven month relocation to Williamston caused by heavy damage to the building from Hurricane Isabel, the staff of the Partnership returned to occupy the building in late March while restoration continued. Partnership back on waterfront BY SEAN JACKSON Staff Writer Rick Watson likes William ston, but he’s loving being back in Edenton. Watson, executive director of the Northeast Partnership, and his colleagues were driven out of their Edenton offices by Hurricane Isabel in Septem ber. The state-funded economic development team relocated to Williamston while their storm battered building on West Wa ter Street was repaired. “We were thrilled that we were able to use the telecenter in Martin County,” Watson said Tuesday, “but we are de lighted to be back in this facil ity.” After a nearly seven-month absence, they returned to Navy to halt some activities related to OLF BY BETH HALL Cox NC Publications RALEIGH - The Navy, in a letter to the federal court, has agreed to hold off on some land acquiring and construc tion activities at a proposed Outlying landing field (OLF) in Washington County. The letter stated the Navy would not take any condem nation actions against land owners, award any construc tion contracts or make new offers to landowners, who were not contacted before March 30. “This is definitely a step in the right direction,!’’ said Kiran Mehta, a Kennedy Covington attorney who rep resents anu-unr piamtins. “The Navy should be coim mended.” “To an extent, this is a posi tive response,” said Brian Roth, Plymouth mayor, a vocal opponent of the Navy’s efforts to build an OLF on 33,000 acres in Washington and Beaufort counties, next to the Pocosin Lakes National Wild life Refuge. Plaintiffs in two lawsuits against the Navy’s plans , asked for an injunction to halt Navy activity on the OLF project until the lawsuit was settled. The hearing for the injunction was held last Tues day in Eastern N.C. federal Court before Judge Terrence Boyle. After several hours of re marks on both sides, Boyle said at the hearing “it will take some time to digest the material. ” He urged the Navy to keep “the status quo” and suggested he would issue a temporary restraining order, if necessary, to limit Navy activity while he considered whether or not to issue an injunction. The plaintiff in one lawsuit is a coalition of conservation groups, and the plaintiffs in the other lawsuit are the two counties involved. Roth said he saw the Navy’s letter, filed Friday, as an acknowledgement of Boyle’s comments at the injunction hearing. However, the letter agree ment made an exception for one controversial activity - continued negotiation with landowners the Navy already has contacted. Roth said he understood that there were 15 landowners in the core area,' part of the OLF’s phase one, with whom the Navy could continue to negotiate, before the injunction decision is handed down. “I don’t think that’s in keeping with the judge’s in tent,” the mayor said. . An injunction would create a “standstill so that the record could be brought cur rent” and “halt further devel opment” until there is a full hearing on the lawsuits, ex plained Boyle at the hearing. • “I hope the-Navy respects folks who say they don’t want to talk to them during tjiis period,” commented Mehta. At the hearing, the plain tiffs questioned the OLF’s impact on wildlife at the ref uge and argued that the Navy has not completed thorough studies on the OLF’s environ mental impact. Edenton in the last week of March, hooking up computers and phones, working from card tables. Over the past weekend the furniture arrived. By Mon day, operations were at 99 per See BACK On Page 3-A 64Teams, 63 Games, and 3 Winners? The Chowan Herald along with local businesses spon sored the first ever Road To Prediction contest where readers picked the winners in the NCAA Tournament. The reader with the most cor rect answers was to be the winner and recipient of the $100 grand prize. However, there was a three way tie. The following win ners will split the prize money: Lawrence Tibbetts, Allison Tibbetts, and Wayne Procter. ' INSIDE THIS WEEK Dapper named Steamers Amateur artists take painting class._1-C Early College saves money.-3-C Red Apple Rewards program starts......5’A WATERFRONT PARK, EDENTON on SATURDAY, APRIL 10th fromW AM * I PM CELEBRATION S# ;: _ . " !*', . jfe, * SSpei EG$ HUNT OPTIMIST CUtt • CAKE WALK • ENTERTAINMENT FACE PAINTINfi TMlNWOtS *