Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / Dec. 22, 2004, edition 1 / Page 1
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Vol. LXXI, No. 50 Wednesday, December 22, 2004 Single Copies 50tf County among danger zones; town addresses traffic Chowan ranks in top 25 most dangerous in NC BY SEAN JACKSON Staff Writer Chowan County was in among the 25 most dangerous counties in North Carolina for highway travel in 2003, accord ing to statistics released Dec. 14 by AAA Carolinas. With 314 vehicle collisions and five fatal wrecks that re sulted in six deaths, Chowan Council splits votes, okays club funding BY SEAN JACKSON Staff Writer In a rare split vote, the Edenton Town Council approved funding for a proposed Boys & Girls Club during the panel’s Dec. 14 regular meeting. With a 3-1 vote, council agreed to give Boys & Girls Clubs of America $25,000 over three years, or roughly $8,300 annually. Councilman Steve Biggs voted against the club’s fund ing request. Councilors Jimmy Stallings, Sambo Dixon, and Willis Privott favored the request. Mayor Pro' Tern Jerry Parks did not attend the meeting. Club officials and local supporters have said they have already raised more than $600,000 to finance the new club. The club — which would be ini tially housed at the old D.E Walker school on Oakum Street in Edenton— would serve youths from both Edenton and Chowan County, officials have said. Local club supporters Scotty Harrell and Bill Whichard said the town was simply asked to join the pri vate-sector donors who helped raise the money for the club, which is ex pected to open programs in January. “We want the town to be involved in it,” Harrell said Tuesday. “They need to be involved in it. It’s a good thing." Whichard agreed. “We have done this through private money because the need was there,” he said. “We have got a lot of momen tum behind us, that’s obvious from the See CLUB On Page 3-A INSIDE Calendar.A2 Church.B1-3 Classifieds.D1-6 Editorials.A10 Obituaries.A9 Society. A8 Sports.B4-6 The Chowan Herald will be closed on Friday, Dec. 24for Christmas. All deadlines will be at noon on Thursday Dec. 23. roads were the 24th most dan gerous for collisions in the state, the report stated. Chowan ranked 49th in fatali ties per vehicle miles traveled. Chowan held the distinction of being the fourth likeliest for a motorist to be killed in, follow ing Graham (No. 1 best chance of being killed), Warren and Hoke counties. Gates, County ranked fifth. Make my wish come true Photb by Bud Weagly for The Chowan Herald Local youngsters snuggle close and share their Christmas wishes with Old Saint Nick during the annual "Day with Santa" celebration held Saturday in Edenton: the event is co-sponsored by the Recreation Department and the community. No white Christmas for area, Nat'l Weather Service says BY SEAN JACKSON Staff Writer brush with wintry weather could be the only snow to be seen through the weekend, negating the chance for a white Christmas. Dan Reilly, a meteorolo gist with the National Weather Service’s Wake field, Va. office, said Tues day that a storm previously expected to brush north- . east North Carolina on Christmas Day should stay further south and east than it had on prior forecast/ models. Snow is out of tfce picture “unless something unexpected happens,” Reil ly said. Saturday should be “cold and dry,” he added. Forecasts Tuesday of fered differing high tem This past weekend’s By comparison, neighbor ing Perquimans County ranked 93rd — meaning only seven counties were safer—in collisions among the 100 coun ties in the state. Perquimans had 214 accidents and three fatalities. Statewide, North Carolina highway fatalities dropped 1.3 percent, to 1,552 deaths for 2003, a AAA Carolinas press relase steated. “Hopefully, these communi ties that continue to lead the state in traffic deaths, injuries and crashes will use their re sources to address speeding / peratures for Saturday. The National Weather Service called for highs in the mid-30s on Christmas Day, while the Weather Channel predicted a high of 42. In the meantime, warmer weather should spread across the region. Temperatures could climb into the mid-60s by Thursday, Reilly said. Rain showers, even a possible thun derstorm, could also move in Thursday, he said. Thursday’s chance of rain is 60 percent. That wet and warm air mass is a far cry from weather that pushed into the area late last weekend. Early Monday morning, temperatures plummeted to 23 degrees, while Tuesday’s overnight readings bottomed out at 30 degrees. After reaching a high of 59 Sunday afternoon, tempera and other forms of aggressive driving that continue to play a major role in the state’s acci dents,” said David E. Parsons, president and CEO of AAA Carolinas said in the Dec. 14 release. Other area statistics in cluded: • Camden County was one of just two N.C. counties without a traffic fatality in 2003, joining Yancey County with that dis tinction • Pasquotank County had 856 accidents, including three fa See ZONES On Page 3-A hires plummeted overnight, as a cold front barreled in from the northwest, bring ing about a half inch of snow to Chowan County. Light snow began falling around 1 a.m. and ended around 5:30 a.m., according to weather data from North east Regional Airport in Edenton. No major acci dents were reported in Chowan or the surrounding area Monday, according to officials with the state High 1 way Patrol and the Chowan County Sheriff’s Office. Reilly’s office called for lows overnight Saturday to dip into the mid-20s in the Edenton area. Sunday night’s lows are forecasted to climb slightly, into the upper 208. Highs Sunday and Mon day are expected to only reach the low to mid 40s. Town to test methods for slowing traffic BY SEAN JACKSON Staff Writer Citing complaints by resi dents growing fed up with fast moving traffic, the Edenton Town Council has agreed to test new speed bumps and 4 way stop signs in town. “We have resisted that in the past,” Town Manager Anne Marie Knighton said Tuesday Would-be tragedy turns into a happy ending for students BY EARLINE WHITE Staff Writer Strong winds, freezing wa ter and a small boat made for an interesting experience for three Chowan County resi dents early Monday morning. Thomas Ward and Jonathan ‘ J.B.’ Brower were home from collogi when the snow fell ear lier tips week. Excited about the season and hoping for a good hunt, they set off early for Bennett’s Millpond where they frequented for ducks. Thomas had overslept and told J.B. to go ahead and he would join him another day. J.B. set off but was surprised when Thomas called shortly thereafter and said to wait for him. J.B., Thomas and friend, Chris Brabble, all met at the pond and quickly commenced to setting up for the hunt. They left the guns and Chris at the nearby duck blind while J.B. and Thomas set off in the boat to set up decoys. “The winds were coming out of the North at about 30 mph,” J.B. said. “There was ice on the boat seat. Before we knew it a blast came and pushed us both to one side of the boat. The boat tipped, then another wind hit and the boat flipped over. The water was so cold it felt like being stabbed in the back Main Street won't get hoped-for funds now BY EARLINE WHITE Staff Writer Edenton’s downtown will not be refurbished with new streetlights and trash recep tacles at least for a while. The Edenton Main Street program had applied for a $386,000 grant for Department of Transporta tion Enhancement funds to replace the current street lights, benches and trash cans as well as installation of un derground wiring at the base of every tree and light. Unfor of the “traffic calming tech niques” approved by council on Dec. 14. The experiment wouldn’t be widespread. The speed bumps would be used in Edenton Housing Authority areas, while the 4-way stop is slated to go up at the intersection of Badham Road and Second Street. Temporary speed See TEST On Page 3-A with an ice pick. I couldn’t get my breath. I couldn’t get to the boat. I could hear Thomas screaming about his chest wader so I got over to him and pulled it off. He’s a tall guy, about 6’8" and when he got the wader off he could touch the bottom of the pond,” J.B. said. Meanwhile J.B. struggled with getting a hold of the boat. “I pulled him over [about 75 yards] to the duck blind where Chris was,” Thomas said. “It was all me and Chris could do to get him ®ut of the water. Thank god we had a third per son there and a cell phone,” Thomas said. It was just a coincidence that the men had a heater in the duck blind, “I’ve been hunting for 8 years and have never taken a heater. The night be fore I decided that I would. When we got into the blind, Chris took his own clothes and gave them to us and we sat by the heater. After 30 minutes we had lost all feeling,” J. B. said. Chris put in a call to his brother at the Sheriff’s Depart ment that they were in trouble. All the while rescue was at tempting to make their way to the men. Steve Taylor, owner of the duck blind, had tried to get to the men but his key broke in See HAPPY On Page 3-A tunately, the program was not awarded the funds this year due to lack of state money. However, the group is encour aged to apply again in two years. “We were considered eligible for the grant, but due to the number of applications the DOT received there was not enough money for our project,” said Jennifer Harriss, Director of the Main Street Program. “Our plan is to work on im See FUNDS On Page 3-A BSt Paul’s Church Christmas Eve Services 5:30 Children’s Service & Communion 11:00 Candlelight Service & Communion msm:. msEsmsst iSfeKWR St. John’s Church Christmas Day Service 10:00 Holy Communion Come Join Us!
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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