Vol. LXXII, No. 16
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Single Copies 50£
Bob Turner, Jim Cranford, Miles Coxe, and others help
prepare the Rotarian Pancake Breakfast on Saturday.
Pilgrimage a big hit with visitors
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
There were 23 stops, includ
ing the state’s oldest wood
frame house still used as a
home, and one of the nation’s
oldest courthouses still being
used.
And the weekend’s biennial
Pilgrimage of Edenton and
Chowan County drew hun
dreds of visitors.
“It was a happy pilgrimage,”
Mary Lou Baldi, pilgrimage
co-chairwoman, said Tues
day “(Visitors) just loved it.”
However, Saturday’s pre
dicted rain showers — which
didn’t arrive until the late af
ternoon — dimmed numbers
for that day for the event
sponsored by the Edenton
Woman’s Club.
“Normally,” Baldi said,
“Saturday would have been
busier.”
On Friday, a busload of
visitors from Sacramento,
Calif, pulled into town. The
group, on a tour with Sacra
mento-based Sports Leisure Va
cations, rolled up to Sycamore
after lunch. Nestled amongst
trees with the Albemarle Sound
at its heels, the home was built
in 1718 and is believed to the old
est frame house in North Caro
lina still being used as a private
residence, said tour guide India
Benoit, a former owner of Sy
camore. The house is currently
owned by Mr. and Mrs. Mark
Abramovic of Pennsylvania.
At the front steps, the 30-plus
visitors were greeted by
Jeannine Keeley.
“We’re happy to have you
here,” Keeley told the group.
Inside, Benoit unveiled some
of the home’s history, includ
ing the fact it has been moved
10 miles from its original site
at White’s old field.
“This is beautiful,” Carolyn
Winters, of Woodland, Calif.,
said as she entered the home’s
dining room which provided
See VISITORS On Page 2-A
Hospital
recognized
nationally
Have you ever studied and
agonized over a big test for
high school or college and then
wondered - does making good
grades in school really pay off?
Do they matter? And for those
who have received major
awards and recognitions for
those good grades, you are
more likely to shout out, “Of
course!”
And while the high school
and college re
port cards for
the individual
staff mem
bers of Cho
wan Hospital
(CH) can’t be
placed on pub
lic display, the
overall report
Sackrison card for pa
tient satisfac
tion at the facility for 2004 is
ready and available for all the
world to see.
From Florida to Phoenix
and from Nags Head to North
Dakota, hospitals nationwide
have had their patient satisfac
tion scores tallied up, and
Chowan Hospital emerged a
clear winner among small hos
pitals. The Jackson Organiza
tion, survey research consult
ants in Columbia, MD, recently
announced the winners of the
2004 Client Awards. Chowan
Hospital received one of the
highest ratings in the United
States among small hospitals
with less than 100 beds.
Chowan Hospital was ranked
number two in the nation for
Outpatient Patient Satisfac
tion.
“This is an incredible
achievement for our staff,”
See HOSPITAL On Page 2-A
Beautiful Day...
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Stall photo by EarlinelVhite
Student athletes, parents, community members and student volunteers came out in full force
to support the Special Olympics athletes yesterday at the annual games held at John A. Holmes.
Four face drug-related charges
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
Edenton police netted four
drug suspects in a string of
arrests earlier this month.
According to Police Chief
.Greg Bonner, the arrests began
at a raid of a North Oakum
Street home on April 14. Act
ing on information from a tip
ster, police raided the resi
dences of two suspects.
“All together,” Bonner said
Tuesday, “police were able to
seize six bags of marijuana,”
or roughly 102 grams of the
drug, he added.
Arrested were: Shakira
Davis, 22, of 1212 N. Oakum St.,
Edenton, and Napoleon
Levonna Moore, 29, also of 1212
N. Oakum St.
Davis was charged with
felony possession with intent
to sell and deliver marijuana,
and manufacturing mari
juana. She was confined at
Albemarle District Jail in lieu
of a $15,000 secured bond. She
made her first court appear
ance April 19.
Moore was charged with
felony possession with intent
to sell and deliver marijuana,
maintaining a dwelling for the
storage of a controlled sub
stance, and manufacturing
marijuana. He wds jailed at the
Chowan County Detention Fa
cility in lieu of a $16,000 se
cured bond.
Holley Moore
The arrest was made by
police Det. Dwight Rawlins.
On April 20, acting on a tip
from state Probation and Pa
role Officer Richard
Winebarger, at approxi
mately 2:30 p.m., police ar
rested Skyler Holley, 21, of
203 E. Albemarle St.
See CHARGES On 3-A
Judge Boyle awaits
confirmation hearing
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
A building controversy in the
nation’s capital that could bring
gridlock in Congress centers on
President Bush’s nomination
for an Edenton man’s appoint
ment to a federal appellate court
judgeship in Richmond, Va.
Terrence W. Boyle, a current
federal judge for the Eastern
District Court in North Caro
lina, was first tapped for the 4th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by
former President George H.W.
Bush in May of 1991.
The U.S. Senate Judiciary
Committee is scheduled to dis
cuss the judicial appointees
Thursday. Both Republican and
Democratic senators have
waged a public war regarding
President George W. Bush’s 10
nominees—which includes the
59-year-old Boyle — and threats
of filibusters have escalated in
recent months.
A Boyle family member said
Tuesday that Terrence Boyle
would likely decline comment
for this story. He did not return
a message seeking comment for
this story by press time. Tradi
tionally, judges are discouraged
from discussing their political
views.
The 18-member Judiciary
Committee has 10 GOP mem
bers, and eight Democrats.
House members have also
weighed in on Boyle’s nomina
tion. U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C.,
has said Boyle is unfit for the
lifetime post due to Boyle’s
standing on civil rights issues.
Conversely, Boyle has been
championed by environmental
groups for his rulings on the
U.S. Navy’s plans to bring an air
field in Washington and Beau
fort counties. Boyle has slapped
an injunction on the Navy, bar
ring the government from buy
ing land for the 30,000-acre air
field until it’s plan is proved to
not adversely
affect the
area, which
includes a
national
habitat for
thousands of
migrating
waterfowl.
Derb
Cartel; an at
Boyle torney with
the Southern
Environmental Law Center in
Raleigh, said Tuesday that
Boyle has presided over three
of his cases “over the years.”
“Based on that,” said Carter,
whose agency is one of several
. environmental groups repre
senting airfield opponents,
“I’ve found him to be a smart
and thorough and fair judge,
who gives all sides a fair hear
ing.”
Carter admitted that envi
ronmental cases can be com
plex.
“As a judge,” Carter added,
“I’ve found (Boyle) is willing to
take the time to understand...
the complex legal issues that
arise in environmental cases.”
Carter could not say how,
should Boyle leave his North
Carolina bench for a seat on
the Richmond panel, the case
against the Navy would fair in
the future without Boyle pre
siding over it.
“It’s hard to make any pre
diction how this case may
evolve,” Carter said.
He did say he was “certain”
Boyle would not sit on any 3
member appellate court panel
See DEBATE On Page 2-A
INSIDE
Calendar.C2
Church.C4
Classifieds.D1-4
Editorials.A8
Learning.C7-8
Obituaries....C6
Society.C3
Sports.B1-4
On Page B1 ...
Green flag drops on
Cycle Speedway season
Council favors increase in occupancy tax
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
The Edenton Town Council
stamped its approval Monday
night to a resolution asking
I Chowan County to seek state aid
in boosting the local occupancy
tax rate
Such a move would require the
state General Assembly to pass a
bill approving the increase in the
town and county’s current hotel
room tax rate to 4 percent, with
the ability to seek a maximum of
6 percent in the future. The cur
rent occupancy tax rate is 3 per
cent.
“Others in the area are that
high,” Mayor Pro Tem Jerry
Parks said Monday of other area
governments that have levied the
6-percent hotel tax.
The resolution was forwarded
to the county Board of County
Commissioners, who are ex
pected to discuss the matter at
their Monday meeting. ,
Town Manager Anne-Marie
Knighton said local hoteliers and
innkeepers approve of the in
crease. The Edenton-Chowan
Chamber of Commerce and the
Tourism Development Authority
have also backed the tax increase,
The occupancy tax dollars cur
rently fund the TDA. That de
partment would use the addi
tional dollars to further pro
mote Edenton and Chowan to
potential tourists via the
Internet, Knighton said. Tradi
tionally, the TDA hasn’t bud
geted monies for Internet-based
advertising, the town manager
added.
Councilman Willis Privott
expressed hesitation in getting
state approval to levy a 6-percent
occupancy tax in the future. He
said holding the line at the pro
posed 4-percent rate and seek
ing future increases through the
same state-approval process —
would be more fair to taxpayers.
“I don’t think that sends out a
good message to the innkeepers,”
said Privott, who added that grant
ing local officials the future ability
to raise the tax without going to
state lawmakers for approval gave
him an “ill feeling”.
“I would rather see us go back
and use the process we’re using
right now,” seeking lawmakers’
approval, Privott said. “It’s worked
well so far.”
Privott also said he approved of
raising the rate to 4 percent “I’m
all for the 1-percent,” increase, he
said.
He also said the TDA has done
fine work in promoting tourism
in the town and county
“They’re doing a good job,” he
said.
At Parks’ suggestion, the coun
cil added a paragraph in the reso
lution stipulating that the cur
rent rate would be capped at 4
percent, but could be increased to
6 percent in the future. Council
unanimously adopted the resolu
tion.
There are five bed-and-break
fast inns in Edenton and Chowan,
in addition to four motels. The
local occupancy tax has been set
at 3 percent since 1989, Knighton
said.