Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Vol. LXXII, No. 8
Single Copies 50*
Center Hill-Crossroads receives higher skills rating
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
TYNER — Northern Chowan
County residents may owe the Center
Hill-Crossroads Volunteer Fire De
partment more than a thank you for
their firefighting skills.
The 36-member department has
received a new fire-insurance classi
fication, which could reduce premi
ums for homeowners in that fire dis
trict.
“It will be thou
sands of dollars
we’ll save for the
people of the
northern end of
Chowan County,”
Louis Nixon, the
Nixon department’s fire
chief, said during
a ceremony at the station attended by
nearly 60 firefighters, county offi
cials, family, and residents.
The new classification, approved
by state Insurance Commissioner
Jim Long in January, ups the five
mile district’s rating from 9S to 6/9S.
That rate boost means protection has
increased, lowering the risk of fire
related damages to homes, busi
nesses, and other property.
"... A higher rating does suggest
that a department is overall better
equipped to respond to fires in the
district,” a Jan. 6 press release from
the state Fire Marshal’s office stated.
“I’d like to congratulate Chief
Nixon for his department’s perfor
mance and for the hard work of all
the department members,” Long
stated in that release, “the citizens in
(the) Center Hill-Crossroads Fire Dis
trict-should rest easy knowing they
have a fine group of firefighters pro
tecting them and their property in
case of emergency.”
“I want to thank everybody that has
helped make our department a suc
cess, the citizens of Chowan County, v
and the county commissioners,”
Nixon said. "(Edenton-Chowan emer
gency services director) Doug Belch
has played a large role in this” reclas
sification. j
The firefighters themselves, 29 of
which were on hand Monday night at J
See SKILLS On Page 3-A
Stokes: A
'veteran's
veteran'
BY REBECCA BUNCH
The Chowan Herald
George Stokes may have been
small in stature, but he was al
ways a force to be reckoned with.
The driving force behind con
struction of the Chowan County
Veterans Memorial, Stokes died
Sunday at age 81.
Stokes was a fa
miliar sight to
many dinring the
years he lived
here, with his
white hair, talk
ative manner, and
ever-present ci
Stokes . gar But he was
known for other
things as well. Chowan County
Manager Cliff Copeland remem
bered Stokes Tuesday morning
as a man with a dry sense of hu
mor and a strong sense of pur
pose. He recalled that Stokes’ ci
gar smoking bothered some of
his colleagues in the county of
fice building when Stokes was
serving as local representative
for veterans’ affairs, and that
there were complaints about it.
But, as Copeland laughingly
noted, Stokes “could really turn
on the charm when he wanted to,
and that’s exactly what he did.
Within a very short time, George
became the most popular person
on that floor. I guess you could
. say he went from the basement
to the penthouse in about two
weeks.”
Copeland also recalled the day
that Stokes showed up at his of
fice to announce that he thought.
Chowan County needed a Veter
ans Memorial. Copeland said he
was waiting to hear George ask
for the county’s help in securing
funds for the project. Instead,
Stokes started by stating in a
very determined tone of voice,
that he intended to make sure the
site was built and paid for and
that he was not expecting the
county to foot the bill. And once
the memorial was completed,
Copeland said, Stokes became, in
' effect, its keeper. “He was always
See STOKES On Page 3-A
MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGH
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Contributed photo courtesy of Angela Perez
The robotic "arm" shown above is part of the da Vinci Surgical System, which allows surgeons to work at
a smaller scale than conventional surgery permits. It's designer, Dr. W. Randolph Chitwood, spoke at Chowan
Hospital Thursday evening. Chitwood founded the Cardiovascular Center at Pitt CountyMemorial Hospital
in Greenville, NC. Since that time, Chitwood and his talented team of surgeons have collectively performed
over 16,000 surgeries.
World-renowned heart surgeon
pays a visit to Chowan Hospital
BY ANGELA PEREZ
Contributing Writer
It is a rare opportunity for
Edenton to play host to super
stars. But last Thursday
evening, one of the world’s
superstars of heart surgery, Dr.
W. Randolph Chitwood, chief of
cardiothoracic and vascular
surgery at Pitt County Memorial
Hospital’s (PCMH) Cardiovascu
lar Center and senior associate
vice chancellor of health sci
ences at the Brody School of
Medicine at East Carolina
University (ECU), paid a visit to
Chowan Hospital.
Chitwood, as guest speaker,
discussed both his innovations
in robotic heart surgery, known
specifically as the da Vinci
Surgical System, and the
$210,000,000 Eastern Carolina
Cardiological Institute that has
been slated to begin construc
tion in either late 2005 or early
2006.
Invoking the American spirit
of progress and change, Jeffrey
N. Sackrison, president of
Chowan and Bertie Memorial
hospitals, introduced Chitwood,
citing quotes from former
president John F. Kennedy’s 1962
speech “We Choose to Go to the
Moon.”
Even during these technologi
cally advanced times, “the vast
stretches of the unknown and
the unanswered and the unfin
ished still far outstrip our
collective comprehension,”
quoted Sackrison. “But,” he
continued, “ Kennedy assured
his fellow Americans that man,
See SURGEON On Page 5-A
Commissioners, j
BOE try to find j
common ground 1
Staff photo by Earline White
County Commissioner (and retired educator)
Ralph Cole, at left, talks with Board of Education
Chairman Gene Jordan and Commissioner Bill
Gardner (at right).
BY EARLINE WHITE
The Chowan Herald
The progression and direction of our local
school system from ‘good’ to ‘great’ was a topic
of utmost concern at the informal work session
between the Chowan County Commissioners and
the Edenton-Chowan Board of Education. The
two boards met on Monday to discuss the future
of the school system and possible ways to ‘ham
mer out issues’ from within.
Dr. Allan Smith, Superintendent welcomed the
group and reminded everyone that the meeting
was a means to stimulate thoughts about our lo
cal schools and students’ needs. “We have to com
pete not only with schools in northeastern North
Carolina, but ones throughout the state and the
nation. We need to think about ways to keep up
with those schools that have more money and
resources” than Edenton-Chowan schools. Smith
continued, “We are at a crossroads. Our system
has made a lot of gains, for example, in the area
of technology. D. E Walker was one of 50 schools
chosen as a NASA Explorer School. We have
made considerable measures in student achieve
ment as well. In 1999, only one half of third grad
ers were reading at or above grade level. We as a
system began to focus on improving literacy and
made sure every teacher at every level was a
teacher of reading. This past year, 80 per cent of
third graders are reading at or above grade level
During this session we hope to gather a shared
view on the direction and how we may further
improve the educational services for the boys and
girls of Chowan County. We need to gain input
from everyone on future priorities to take the
schools to the next level,” Smith said.
Cliff Copland, Chowan County Manager, gave
the county’s perspective in dealing with the
See GROUND On Page 5-A
INSIDE
Calendar...C2
Church...C4
Classifieds.D1-6
Editorials.. A6
Learning.B4-6
Obituaries......... C6
Society.C3
Sports.Bl-3
On Page Cl ...
The Good News
Puppets make
everyone smile
Judge Boyle issues 'landmark' court decision on OLF
BY EARLINE WHITE
The Chowan Herald
The citizens of Washing
ton and Beaufort counties
are rejoicing as the Navy
finds itself losing ground for
a second time in its bid for
the outlying landing field.
Federal Judge Terrence
Boyle of the US District
Court in NC granted a per
manent injunction against
the Navy, barring any fur
ther planning, development
or construction of the OLF
without yielding first to the
National Environmental
Policy Act.
Should the
Navy ap
peal the de
cision, the
case will be
heard in
the 4th Cir
Boyle cuit Court
of Appeals
in Richmond, VA.
Boyle called the study done
by the Navy to place the touch
and go airstrip in Washington
and Beaufort counties “incom
plete”. His decision stemmed
from the failure of the Navy to
make an objective determina
...
tion of the impact on the sur
rounding environment of the
proposed site. Boyle has or
dered a stop to all activities
and sent the Ndvy to reevalu
ate its “flawed” environmental
analysis.
The suit against the Navy
was filed over a year ago in
hopes to protect the nearby
Pocosin Lakes National Wild
life Refuge, a habitat for over
100,000 swans, geese and tun
dra fowl. Last April a prelimi
nary injunction ceased work
on the landing field and denied
the Navy a motion to recon
sider. The training field was to
v'i
be located only a few miles
from the refuge. Over 31,000
landings and take-off were
scheduled to fly per year from
the proposed OLF. Low-flying
jets would pose a hazard to the
wildlife and the jet pilots dur
ing take off and landing. Fur
thermore, any attempts to
make the area “safer” would
only damage the wildlife ref
uge.
Lawyers from the Southern
Environmental Law Center
represented Audubon joined
by Defenders of Wildlife, and
the North Carolina Wildlife
Federation in hopes to stop the
OLFs construction. Their ar
guments were based on the
Navy’s downplaying of the en
vironmental impact the jet
landing field would have and
the “reverse engineering” of
the required Environmental
Impact Statement to fit the
Navy’s desired outcome. The
affected counties in North
Carolina also filed their own
suit.
“This landmark court deci
sion confirms what we have
said all along: this is not a safe
place for a jet landing field,” \
See OLF On Page 5-A
'h