Vol. LXXI, No. 43
Wednesday, November 3, 2004
A
Single Copies 50tf
Winslow, Downum, Burr take Wardville precinct
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
For two Chowan County
Board of Commissioners in
cumbents, Tuesday was an
other day of victory at the polls
— in the one precinct,
Wardville, reporting at press
time.
Incumbents Harry Lee
Winslow and Jerry Downum
won handily in the Wardville
Perry bids
council adieu
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
With reluctance, the Rev. Jerald Perry Sr.
resigned his Ward 3 Edenton Town Council
seat last week, having moved into a new
home across town.
.Perry, formerly of Dillard Avenue, and his
wife moved to the Oak Hill subdivision on
Oct. 28. He resigned the seat he’d held for 15
years on Oct. 27.
“I regret the fact I had to give up my seat
because I moved out of my district,” Perry
said Monday. “I’m proud to have served the
Town of Edenton.”
He won’t be enjoying much additional free
time. His church holds services on council’s
traditional Tuesday meeting nights.
“I’ll be back in (Whoseverwill Church of
God in Christ),” he said of the church where
he pastors, “to carry on myself.”
Two councilmen live in Perry’s new ward
district. Jerry Parks holds an at-large seat
and Jimmy Stallings represents Ward 1.
Perry doesn’t intend to challenge either one.
“I have the utmost respect for both of
them,” Perry said. “(But) if either (Stallings
or Parks) opted not to nm again, I would cer
tainly put my name in for that position.”
He also has no future plans to seek the
town’s mayoral post. Perry said he’d been
asked in the past, but preferred the fact that
See PERRY On Page 3-A
,e\
Staff photo by Sean Jackson
Former fcdenton Town Councilman Jerald
Perry Sr., right, chats with U.S. Senate can
didate Urskine Bowles during the Democrat's
stop in Edenton last week. Perry resigned his
Ward 3 council post earlier in the day.
INSIDE
Calendar.A2
Church.C5
Classifieds.D1-6
Editorials.A8
Football Forecast.. B6
Learning.C3
Obituaries.... C7
Society...C2
Sports...Bl-6
Ghouling Around!
Fall festivals, trick-or
treaters, arrived in Edenton
and Chowan County over
the weekend. — Cl
precinct.
Winslow, seeking to be re
elected to his District 1 seat,
garnered 314 votes, or 78 per
cent of all ballots cast. Chal
lenger John Sams won 88
votes, or roughly 22 percent of
ballots cast.
All vote totals from Tuesday
were unofficial until Nov. 9.
At press time, totals for the
Dossey Pruden-Bill Gardner
Jr. race for the District 2
Decisions, decisions
*
't ■
■ •••'* “S'
Staff photo by Earline White
Chowan County voters turned out to the polls in strong fashion Tuesday, joining the millions
across the state and country who cast ballots during the first wartime presidential election in a
generation.
Long lines, headaches, satisfaction awaited Chowan voters
BY EARUNE WHITE
Staff Writer
Voter turnout was massive
Tuesday at all six polling
places in Chowan County.
While it was incredible the
\ number of people who showed
f up to cast their ballots, several
[' citizens in Chowan were irri
tated at the long wait. Others
i maintained their cool as they
■ selected who they hope to be
the future leaders of our state
f’ and country
Edward Taylor was one citi
zen who thinks more planning
j should go into the local voting
process.
“It is absolutely ridiculous
| that District 2 had only one
county commissioners seat
were unavailable.
Current District 2 Commis
sioner George Jones did not
seek reelection.
Results for incumbent com
missioner Ralph Cole’s race
against challenger George
Bradham for Cole’s District 3
seat were also unavailable.
Downum, seeking to retain
his at-large seat, at least did so
in Wardville by winning 72 per
machine working at this poll
[East Edenton],” he said. “I re
alize that things break down
and changes are to be made but
I had to wait thirty minutes to
vote. There really ought to be
more people checking voters
in.”
Bonnie Alexander was on
hand at the same site, the old
D. E Waiker School, with her
daughter, Megan, to cast their
votes. Megan drove from
Greenville, where she attends
ECU, to cast her vote.
“This is the first time I have
had to wait,” Bonnie said
about the 20-plus minute line
forming in front of her.
On the other side of the
fence were those voters who
cent of all ballots cast, or 190
votes. Challenger Robin Sams
won 71 votes, or about 28 per
cent of all votes cast.
In Wardville, state Rep. Bill
Culpepper, D-Chowan, edged
challenger Dan Beall, a Repub
lican, by 80 votes, 232 to 152.
Also in Wardville, voters re
jected Amendment One by 46
votes, with 61 percent of all
ballots being cast against the
proposed amendment.
didn’t mind the wait. Bernice
Brooks took advantage of the
opportunity to talk to those
around her. “I talked the whole
time,” she said, “I saw my
friends and neighbors and I
learned something today. I
learned that there are more
people in Edenton with a last
name beginning with A-L than
M-Z.” Bob Brooks, Bernice’s
husband and a ‘mixed’ voter,
preferred the old voting place
at the Rescue Squad building.
“There used to be a better lay
out. The Rescue Squad build
ing was so big that there was
no clutter like there is here at
the Agricultural Center.”
Meanwhile, the line to vote
wrapped in circles inside the
building:
Voters there did, however,
support ammdendments Two
and Three, by 84 percent and
71 percent margins, respec
tively.
Statewide, incumbent Demo
cratic Gov. Mike Easley was
projected to win his second 4
year term in office. At press
time, with 12 percent of the
precincts statewide reporting,
Easley had won 56 percent of
the vote, while Republican
Blair and) Christina Currie
also cast their ballot at the Ag
riculture Center. “We’ve been
waiting over an hour,” Blair
said. “Chrissy was planting
bulbs in the yard when I told
her that we should go now and
vote. Regardless of the wait,
we are happy to do it. Voting is
a privilege and it’s always bet
ter to see a big turnout than
none. This turnout shows that
people are interested in the
way the government is being
run,” Blair Currie said.
“People today have a drive
thru mentality and don’t want
to wait,” Glen Anderson,
owner of Acoustic Coffee, said
of the disgruntled voters leav
ing in a huff. Anderson refused
challenger Patrick Ballantine
had garnered 42 percent of the
vote.
In Wardville, Easley col
lected just two more votes than
Ballantine, 196 to 194.
Also at press time, the U.S.
Senate race between Democrat
Erskine Bowles and Republi
can Richard Burr was too close
to call. Burr won 55 percent of
the vote in Wardville, garner
ing 227 votes to Bowles’ 168.
■i
County may move
'into the zone'
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
•A County Line Road resident hopes
Chowan County can aid any others who may
face the dilemma she and her husband are
facing.
In her letter to the editor of The Chowan
Herald, Debbie Whitehurst laments the fact
that adjacent property will soon be home to
four chicken houses. It’s a circumstance
Whitehurst and her husband, a Chowan
County sheriff’s deputy, didn’t envision
when they were given their lot 15 years ago.
She says county-wide zoning would erase
such future plights.
“It’s too late for me,” Whitehurst said,
“blit it doesn’t have to be for” other Chowan
residents. “Now is the time for county-wide
zoning.”
County Manager Cliff Copeland said the
Chowan planning board and county com
missioners are aware that county-wide zon
ing may be needed in the future. Edenton
Chowan planner Elizabeth Bryant has been
meeting with local civic groups about the
issue, Copeland said.
“Certainly, there’s a planning initiative,”
underway, he said.
' Bryant will bring the results of her study
to a joint planning-commissioners board
meeting in the future, Copeland said.
At that point, the two governing bodies
will decide if another study is needed, or if
the county should hire a consultant to work
on a possible zoning ordinance.
“Certainly, there is
a planning initia
tive” underway.
— County Manager
Cliff Copeland
Copeland said he is aware of the
Whitehursts predicament.
“We wanted to help (them),” he said, “but
there wasn’t much we could do” without a
zoning ordinance to enforce.
Unlike the county, the Town of Edenton
has a zoning ordinance. It’s Historic District
has strict covenants, which, among other
things, dictates what colors residents can
paint homes and what types of fences can
be erected in that district.
Copeland said the country traditionally
has been cautious about such restrictions.
“Most*people don’t want to tell other
people what to do with their property,” the
county manager said.
to comment on whom he was
voting for but said, “both can
didates should drink more cof
fee.”
This was a special occasion
for Anne Charles and Simon
Earnshaw who recently ob
tained citizenship in this coun
try. Originally from England,
Earnshaw said, "I can’t quite
comprehend the process. In
England the only thing you
need to vote is your voter reg
istration card. Here you show
that, get a pass and get into
another line to actually vote.”
Charles commented on the
differences between the two
See TURNOUT On Page 9-A