July 14r2004
| Vol. LXXt, No. 27 Published in historic Edenton .The South’s prettiest town.
Single Copies 50«
Local business leaders meet with President Bush
BY EARLINE WHITE
Staff Writer
On Friday, July 2,2004 Presi
dent Bush met with small busi
ness owners from all over the
country to address economic
growth. The group met in the
East Room at the White House
with Owen and Joan Maxwell,
owners of Regulator Marine,
j -present. During the meeting,
President Bush acknowledged
the partnership Regulator Ma
rine has with College of The
Albemarle (GOA) to provide
training to potential workers.
Bush said, “One of the inter
esting things the Maxwells
have done-and I really appreci
ate this-is that they have
teamed up with a local commu
nity college to devise a course
, to train people coming into
their industry-the boat manu
facturing industry. That’s a
wise, wise use of a very impor
tant community asset, w-hich
is the community colleges.”
Rural northeastern North
Carolina has proved to be a
challenging backdrop in which
to find qualified boat building
Suspect back
in custody
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
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On Wednesday night sometime between the hours of 11 p.m.
and 9:30 a.m. Thursday, July 8, Dy wondrell Kelvone Harris,19,
of Pasquotank County escaped from the Chowan County De
tention Facility in Edenton by cutting through a metal screen
and breaking a wire reinforced window with a shower handle,
Chowan Sheriff Fred Spruill stated in a press release..
“The investigation revealed that a telephone call was made
at approximately 7:30 p.m. by Harris Wednesday night,” July
7, Spruill said.
, “A trace of the call revealed a telephone number and a pos
sible location in Pasquotank County was established,” the
sheriff said. “The joint investigation involving the
Pasquotank, Perquimans, Chowan County Sheriffs’ Offices
and the Pasquotank- Elizabeth City Task Force continued
through the night.”
Harris, who turns 20 this month, was located in the
Chapanoke area of Perquimans County on Friday morning
at approximately 12:30 p.m. Harris was rearrested and re
turned to the Chowan County Detention Facility without in
cident.
Harris has been confined at the Chowan jail since Jan. 16
on charges of breaking and entering a motor vehicle, larceny,
and injury to real property. He has also been charged with es
cape, Spruill said Monday
Harris was convicted of larceny in Pasquotank County in
May. He was sentenced to 36-months of probation. He was also
convicted of receiving a stolen vehicle in 2002, also in
Pasquotank County. p
Spruill said the internal investigation revealed a policy vio
lation and steps are being taken.
“But the bottom line is the Detention Officer failed to per
form their duties in checking the inmates,” the sheriff said.
Spruill wants to thank the agencies and officers involved
in the investigation for the work in returning Harris to cus
tody.
Britthaven of Edenton very proud of survey results
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Managing Editor
Everybody at Britthaven of
Edenton is sporting a big smile
these days. From the office
staff to the nurses, all pf them
— and especially Acting Ad
ministrator Craig Miller—are
feeling a real sense of accom
plishment since the nursing
home received a “no deficien
cies” rating from the North
Carolina Division of Facility
Services.
Miller, a former Britthaven
administrator who was re
cently called back into service
to train new administrator
Dianne Nixon, said he and the
staff couldn't be more pleased
with the results. “This rating
of ‘no deficiencies’ just shows '
i what an outstanding group of
: people work at this facility and
| clearly reflects the pride they
personnel. Regulator Marine
and Albemarle Sportfishing
Boats, Inc., have teamed up
with the College of the
Albemarle to offer pre-employ
ment training for potential em
ployees. Maxwell insists that
the boat-building program is
proving to be a real asset to our
community and Lynn Hurdle
Winslow, Vice-President of
Continuing Education at COA
agrees.
In his remarks, President
Bush noted the importance of
the community college in pre-.
paring citizens for jobs in a
changing economy, “One of the
real challenges to make sure
that America is the best place
to do business in the world so
people will be able to continue
to find work is to make sure
our education system func:
tions well. And one way to
make it function well is for the
federal government to work
with community colleges and
local businesses to devise cur
riculum to train people for the
jobs which actually exist. And
See BUSH On Page 3-A
Owen and Joan Maxwell (center of photo), co-owners of Regulator Marine in Edenton, pose for photographers in the
Blue room at the White House along with two of their employees, Pam Gurganus (left) and Willie Rankins (right). The group
was in Washington, DC to meet with President George Bush as part of a meeting Bush held with small business owners and
entrepreneurs from across the United States July 2. Pictures taken with President Bush had not been released at press time.
Just clownin’ around
Photo for The Chowan Herald by Bud Weagly
Local children enjoy a relaxing morning of pranks and laughs — clown style. Mem
bers of the local "Clown College" started in Edenton several years ago by Joy Caron
entertained Tuesday during the Shepard-Pruden Library's Summer Reading Program in
the downtown waterfront park. Several rflore summer sessions are planned in July.
of I di-nloil
Photo tor The Chowan Herald by Bud Weagly
The staff and management at Britthaven of Edenton are proud of earning a "no deficiencies" status in state review
4%
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Plans for
roads are
discussed
BY EARLINE WHITE
Staff Writer
The Chowaa County Board
of Commissioners met in regu
lar session Monday, July 12 to
discuss, among other things,
the cpunty’s 2004-2005 Second
ary Roads Improvement Pro
gram.
- * Anthony Roper, Division
Maintenance Engineer, re
ported that there is an esti
mated total allocation of
$210,00 for road improvement.
The future projects to be un
dertaken include paving Em
peror landing (1.0 miles), West
Bear Swamp (1.8 miles) and
Sycamore Road (1.3 miles).
Sandy Point Road is next on
the list to be paved if money is
left over.
* Planning and Inspections
gave their monthly report. 18
storm-damaged mobile homes
and 3 non-storm damaged
homes were removed from
Chowan County between'
March and May of 2004. Three
hundred and three inspections
were conducted last month
putting the number at 1,748 for
the year to date.
* Michael Cobb, Regional
Specialist North Carolina Of
See ROADS On Page’3-A
all take in their work,” he said.
See SURVEY On Page 3-A
INSIDE THIS WEEK
Trolley
keeps
rolling
_8-A
Pocosin Arts goes to
the Smithsonian... 4-C
Cycle Speedway at
Rocky Hock„_1-B
Habitat House Is
complete___ 2-A