Vol. LXXI, No. 37
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Single Copies 50#
Plans move forward to bring Boys/Girls Club here ;
•' •• " , . ‘ ..... / . ■; ’ .. ...... ' ; . \ • \ O'
BY SEAN JACKSON .
Staff Writer
Chet Emerson really knows
trouble. He was in plenty of it
as a kid. Now he wants to share
his turning - a - life - around
knowledge with Chowan
County youths.
Emerson, executive director
of Boys & Girls Clubs of South
east Virginia, bluntly relayed
the sordid events of his child
hood to a group of business
and civic leaders at Chowan
Golf & Country Club last
week. His alcoholic father died
when he was six. His alcoholic
mother turned to prostitution
to support her eight children
when Emerson was nine. Be
fore his 10th birthday he ran
away from home to ease her
burden, settling on thievery to
feed himself.
“I was a very bitter young
man,” he told the crowd of
about 100 gathered for the pro
posed Edenton club’s apprecia
tion dinner.
By the age of 17, he’d spent
City puts
dogs on
short leash
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
Owners of dogs labeled vi
cious will have to take steps to
keep them in line with a new
ordinance adopted by the
Edenton Town Council last
week.
During its Sept. 14 meeting,
council adopted stringent
guidelines that owners of vi
cious dogs must follow in order
to keep such pets. In addition-,
council decided to ban vicious
breeds from being kept in tow-n
by potential future owners.
“We have identified about
seven residents where these
dogs are kept now,” Knighton
said Tuesday. “We notified
them prior to ordinance being
adopted of proposal and now
have notified them of new
rules.”
The breeds identified as
“potentially dangerous” are:
pit bull, chow chow, rottweiler,
Staffordshire terrier. The town
has “banned any of these spe
cies to be kept in town,”
Knighton said.
“We grandfathered, with
strict rules, those dogs that are
already here,” she added.
The rules include: dog must
be registered with the town,
See COUNCIL On Page 3-A
INSIDE
Calendar.A2
Church.C5
Classifieds.D1-4
Editorials.A6
Football Forecast.. B3
Learning.C3
Obituaries.C7
Society.C2
Sports.B1 -4
On Page A8 ...
Barker House
fundraiser is
planned
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- Staff photo by Sean Jackson
Chet Emerson, at left, executive director of Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Virgiania; chats
with Eric Gilliam, center, unit director of the Boys & Girls Club in Elizabeth City, and DeonT'ae
Williams, a part-time staffer with the Elizabeth City club, prior to Emerson's speech at the Chowan
Golf & Country Club last week. Emerson has helped Edenton and Chowan officials bring one of
the youth clubs to Edenton.
IT'S FAIR TIME AGAIN
ir
Fun rides, educational
exhibits, pageants, talent
shows and musical entertain
ment will all be part of the
annual Chowan County
Regional Fair which opens at
the American Legion Fair
grounds in Edenton Sept. 28
and continues through Oct.
2. Tickets are $10 at the
gate. Gates open Tuesday,
Wednesday and Friday at 5
p.m.; Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
and Saturday at 1 p.m.
UNC-TV wants Edenton as 'city of license' for station
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Managing Editor
Frustrated satellite TV sub
scribers who haven’t been able
to watch their favorite North
Carolina PBS programs may
get some relief in the future,
thanks to a new proposal being
pushed by UNC-TV.
The proposal, in the form of
a petition now before the Fed
eral Communications Com
mission (FCC) would allow sat
ellite viewers in Chowan,
Gates, Hertford, Perquimans,
Pasquotank, Camden; Curri
tuck and Dare counties access
to the station.
As the FCC prepares to con
sider the petition, which would
add Edenton as a city of li
cense for UNC-TV, while re
. :■. .tT a, m
Chowan Herald file photo
Satellite TV subscribers in northeastern North Carolina may
be able to receive programming from the UNC-TV (PBS) station
if the FCC agrees to make Edenton a "city of license".
six years in youth halls. Then
he crossed paths with the Boys
& Girls Club in St. Paul, Minn.,
his hometown. One man help
ed steer him toward change
and success.
“He knew there was magic
in every person,” Emerson
said of his mentor.
Such mentors can change
wayward lives for Chowan and
Edenton youths, he added. Just
ask DeonT’ae Williams. The
Newland teen is a freshman at
Elizabeth City State Univer
sity He joined the organization
when he was six. It kept him
out of trouble. It gave him fo
cus, discipline and the social
skills needed in adult life,
Willliams said shortly before
Emerson’s speech.
“It kept me away from things
in the neighborhood I didn't
need to be around, things I
didn’t need to see,” the 2004
Pasquotank County High
School graduate said.
“I had coaches who were
willing to teach me things and
guide me,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Edenton Police Department
Cash, drugs and guns were seized at the home of Jessie Anton
"Tjnk" Holley during a raid conducted Sept. 9. According to
Edenton police, Holley eluded arrest by jumping out a window
at his home earlier this month.
Edenton PD seeking
alleged drug dealer
BY EARLINE WHITE
Staff Writer
Edenton police are looking
for an alleged drug dealer who
eluded arrest by jumping out
a window during a raid on his
East Albemarle Street home
earlier this month.
Police raided the home of
Jessie Anton “Tink” Holley, 22,
of 203 E. Albemarle St. on Sept.
9. After obtaining a search
warrant on the day of the raid,
police were able to seize 62
grams of cocaine, a small
amount of marijuana as well
as paraphernalia and scales
used for measuring drugs.
moving Columbia, NC from
that designation. Tom Howe,
director and general manager
for the station, is appealing to
Chowan County residents to
support the plan.
Howe said making the
change would allow UNC into
a direct marketing area (DMA)
designated by the FCC which
covers Virginia and parts of
North Carolina, including
Edenton. The rule would then
allow satellite subscribers,
who currently are only able to
receive a signal that incorpo
rates the Virginia PBS station
to also receive the North Caro
lina PBS signal. Columbia is
part of a direct marketing area
that only covers North Caro
lina, and thus would not help
UNC qualify to broadcast to
Eric Gilliam sees such suc
cess stories every day The unit
director of the Boys & Girls
Club in Elizabeth City, Gil
liam’s mission is to keep kids
safe and busy during after
school hours, when trouble of
ten lurks.
“We love what we do,” -
Gilliam said. “It’s not just a 9* 4
to-5job.”
The local club would be one
of nearly 4,000 nationwide,
Emerson said. The organiza
tion reaches nearly 3 million
kids. Former members include
baseball star Alex Rodriguez
and Oscar - winning actor
Denzel Washington. Both A
Rod and Washington appeared
in a video Emerson played last
Thursday night. Secretary of
State Colin Powell also praised
the club’s programs in the 12
minute video.
“We need more mentors,”
Powell said. “We need more
places like this.”
Such was also the sentiment
See CLUB On Page 3-A
Police approached Holley at
the home where he proceeded
to run into the house, upstairs
into the bedroom and lock the
door. Officers forced open the
door as Holley jumped
headfirst out of the window.
Holley fell 20-25 feet to the
ground. Once he hit the
ground, he fled on foot North
on Oakum Street. Police were
unable to apprehend him at the
time.
Police recovered a semi-au
tomatic machine gun and a .22
caliber rifle at the site.
Because the amount of co
See DEALER On Page 3-A
satellite recipients who live in
northeastern North Carolina.
Howe pointed out that by
only receiving the Virginia
PBS programming, viewers in
North Carolina are missing
out on programs geared spe
cifically to a Tarheel audience, • :
such as North Carolina Now,
Legislative Week in Review,
North Carolina Weekend and
North Carolina People.
Howe said he believes the
change would have “an ex
tremely positive impact” and
urged those who support it to
write letters relating to the pe
tition now before the FCC. The
letters, which must reach
UNC-TV by Sept. 25, may be e
mailed to thowe@unctv.org.
For more information, call
(919)549-7000.