Jones won't seek
re-election to
Commission seat
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
As expected, only a handful
of political hopefuls had filed
for the July 20 primaries dur
ing the first two days of the fil
ing period.
According to Chowan Coun
ty elections director Rebecca
Lowe, the three that had filed
through press time Tuesday
were all incumbents. N.C. Rep.
Bill Culpepper, D-2nd District,
is seeking a sixth full term in
office. County Commissioner
Ralph Cole is making a bid to
win election to his first full
term, while County Register
of Deeds Susan Rountree is
Grocery
could be
closed
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
A popular Edenton supermar
ket is part of a regional chain
apparently pondering whether it
will have to-close some of its
stores.
The Winn-Dixie at Chowan
Crossing Shopping Center has
not been identified as a store that
could be shut down, a spokesper
son said in am email to fhe
Chowan Herald last week.
But the company is “review
ingall of its locations... (and) will
identify core markets targetedfor
future investment and growth
and non-core markets to be evalu
ated for sale or closure,” stated
Kathy Lussier.
“We have not yet announced
the results of this review,”
Lussier added, “so I am not able
to comment on any particular lo
cation.”
A Winn-Dixie employee, who
did not want to be identified, also
said he is hot aware just how the
Edenton store would be affected
by any corporate decision. “We
don’t know until they come out
and tell us,” the employee said,
“so we’re all in the dark on that”
Recent published reports have
indicated that profits have contin
ued to dip in recent months. The
company has been shuffling its
management hierarchy in recent
months, reports have stated.
In addition, the company’s
stock has fallen sharply since
June, increasing speculation that
closings and buyouts could be
imminent, particularly in the
Carolinas.
Edenton’s Winn-Dixie has
about 60 employees. Edenton
Chowan Chamber of Commerce
Executive Director Richard
Bunch said the supermarket has
been a “good corporate partner”
to the community and the Cham
ber
“We would certainly not be too
pleased if (Winn-Dixie’s top man
agement) decides that they are
not keeping the store here,"
Bunch said.
Bunch feels the Edenton store
could be one of the stronger loca
tions in the region.
“I would hope they would be
OK,” he said. “But we’re going to
do a full-court press to keep them
here.”
vying for another four-year
term.
Longtime county Commis
sioner George Jones is retiring
from the board after 26 years
on the job.
“I would like to thank my .
many supporters and sin
cerely believe that, working
together, we have accom
plished much,” Jones wrote in
a farewell ad published in
today’s Chowan Herald.
In recent years, the board
completed a lease agreement
between Chowan and Pitt
County Memorial hospitals,
built two new elementary
schools, and a state-of-the-art
See SEAT On Page 5-A
Murder suspects arrested
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
Two Edenton men were
arrested last week and
charged with the Nov. 6
murder of Jamel Boyce.
Edenton police arrested
Dwight Coston, 21, of 1013
C Badham Road, and
Lashaun Hill, 25, of 2113
John Hill Road, at a
Badham Road residence
April 22. Both were char
ged with murder stem
ming from Nov. 17 indict
ments handed down by a
Chowan County grand
jury.
Boyce was at Edenton
Manor Apartments when
he was fatally shot, police
detective Sgt. Rhonda
Copeland said Monday.
Coston and Hill’s next
court date is July 9. They
were each placed under a
$500,000 secured bond and
jailed at the Chowan Coun
ty Detention Facility.
Neither suspect offered
any resistance during the
arrest, Copeland said,
which involved a host of
Edenton Police officers.
“} don’t think they were
expecting us,” Copeland
added.
Neither Hill nor Coston
made any statements to po
lice, Copeland said. There
were five others in the
house when police swarmed
the property, armed with a
search warrant.
“We had been watching
that house for a while,” po
lice Chief Greg Bonner said
shortly after the pair was
arrested.
Staff photo by Sean Jackson
Edenton Police Officer Alan Stulick, at left, escorts mur
der suspects Dwight Coston, second from left, 2nd Lashaun
Hill, far right, out of the Chowan County Courthouse on
April 22. Coston and Hill were arrested at a rental home
in Edenton and charged with the Nov. 6 murder of Jamel
Boyce.
Staff photo by Sean Jackson
Courthouse green sports new look
Those passing by the Courthouse Green in recent days have no doubt noticed some changes to the site. The brick
steps installed there during the 1960s have been removed. The lamp posts are soon to follow, as part of a redesign
project begun last year. The new design will make the green look like it did when the courthouse was built in 1767.
Edenton-Chowan Special Projects Director Peter Rascoe said response so far has been strongly in favor of the project.
"We've had overwhelmingly positive comments about having the steps removed," he said. Rascoe added that eventu
ally the low, brick wall and platform surrounding the monument to Joseph Hewes — a signer of the Declaration of
Independence who lived in Edenton— is to be replaced by marble.
Culpepper hears health concerns
BY EARLINE WHITE
Staff Writer
As part of the statewide Ado
lescent Health Advocacy Rally,
Representative Bill Culpepper
met with Amy Damrow, 4-H
Agent with the Chowan
County Extension Service, and
young people at the Northern
Chowan Community Center
on April 22. Ms. Damrow and
the others provided informa
tion on why adolescent health
issues are important in
Chowan County.
Culpepper praised the SOS
(Support Our Students) pro
gram that was implemented
when he first served with the
Legislature. “It was apparent
that there was lot of juvenile
crime. The most fertile time for
a
Staff photo by Earline White
Rep. Bill Culpepper listens as local 4-H'ers talk about adolescent health issues that they
feel are important during a rally at the Northern Chowan Community Center April 22.
kids to get in trouble were the
hours between getting out of
school and dinner. SOS was
created as an alternative for
kids to do something after
school. That program and the
Governor’s One-On-One is the
best money the state of North
Carolina has spent,” Culpep
per said.
, See HEALTH On Page 5-A
Poison
may be
linked
to dogs
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
Chowan County Animal
Control officials are still inves
tigating the suspected poison-,
ing of a pair of dogs on Yeopim
Road on April 14.
Control officer Mary Bass
said the dogs, both mixed
breeds, could have died after
drinking antifreeze.
“We’re not 100 percent on
that,” Bass said, “but if I had
to bet on it, I’d bet it was anti
freeze ... It’s obvious they were
poisoned.”
Martin Mersereau, man
ager of PETA’s domestic ani
mal department, said anti
freeze “is a tortuous tool of
death” to use against a dog.
The animals endure renal fail
ure, seizures, and vomiting, he
added. f
“Ultimately,” he said, “they
succumb after a lot of suffer
ing.”
Bass said it is her under
standing that antifreeze pro
ducers have begun removing
the chemical’that is toxic to
dogs from some of their prod
ucts. But many people buy an
tifreeze in bulk, and the for
See DOGS On Page 5-A
INSIDE THIS WEEK
May Play
Day set
for Sat.
-2-A
Luminaries
benefit
Cancer Relay_9-A
Outings planned
with the
Rec. Dept_2-B
Curves opening in
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