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Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Single Copies 501
Vol. LXXII, No. 33
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Staff photo by Earline White
Det. Sgt. Rhonda Copeland watches as a
fellow officer arrests a suspect Friday night.
Detectives
making impact
Herald staffer patrols
with police unit
BY EARLINE WHITE
The Chowan Herald
It’s Friday night, midnight. While most
people are sleeping soundly in their quiet
homes, flashing blue lights come racing from
different directions. A call goes out over the
communication system; “We need backup.”
Ramrods and kicking in doors. Drugs, weapons
and cash seized. And the Edenton Police
Department’s Detective Division takes another
criminal into custody.
Since 2004, the Detective Division, headed by
Detective Sgt. Rhonda Copeland, has been
working to rid the streets of crime. Averaging
at least one drug raid per week (in addition to
the routine felonious charges of robbery, fraud
and homicide, among others), the detectives
have seized over $50,000 in cash, approximately
35 weapons, and countless amounts of cocaine,
crack and marijuana.
With one of the highest rates of solved cases
and a considerable number of convictions, the
Edenton Police Department’s Detective Divi
sion is busy at work helping to ‘clean up the
streets’.
“It was too much to handle on my own,”
Copeland said of her lone beginning as a de
tective in Edenton. Back then there were sev
eral instances of robbery, particularly at busi
nesses. Felonious cases such as those needed
special attention and required more paper
work, taking away time needed for patrols and
other routine duties.
Police Chief Gregory Bonner made the deci
sion to form a detective division last March to
combat certain areas, like robbery , breaking
and entering, and drug trafficking; freeing up
time and obligations within the department.
Officers Aaron Davidson and Dwight Rawlins
were switched to the division. According to
Copeland, few robberies have taken place since
the division’s implementation and feels that
there is a direct correlation between the
division’s formation and crime.
See IMPACT On Page A2
INSIDE
Calendar.C2
Church..C5
Classifieds.D1 -4
Editorials.A6
Obituaries.C6
Society...».C3,7
Sports.B1-4
On Page C1 ...
Back to
school
summertime
Kids had a great time running and playing during the last of the Shepard
Pruden Library's Summer Reading Program sessions.
Staff photo by Earline White
Parks and Recreation Department Director Robbie Laughton (at right) listens
as parents discuss their concerns about playground equipment.
Playground equipment,
safety the focus of group
BY EARLINE WHITE
The Chowan Herald
Concerned parents met with Town
Manager, Ann-Marie Knighton, and
Edenton-Chowan Parks and Recre
ation Department Director, Robbie
Laughton, to map out direction and
spark initiative among the commu
nity to help replace the potentially
dangerous playground equipment at
Colonial Waterfront Park.
“The biggest things we have to
tackle at this point are researching
the proper equipment and investigat
I Edenton, Inner Banks' subjects of PBS documentary
BY EARLINE WHITE
The Chowan Herald
Edenton and the "Inner
Banks”, which stretch from
South Carolina to Virginia,
will once again be prominently
featured in a documentary, this
one titled “Cruising Carolina”,
scheduled to premiere during
UNC-TV’s Festival in Febru
ary 2006.
Long before highways con
nected the remote regions in
northeastern North Carolina,
waterways were its routes for
exploration. “Cruising Caro
lina”, the film based on the
ing potential grants,” Belinda Baker,
Chairman of the Playground commit
tee said prior to the meeting Tuesday
at Acoustic Coffee.
“Right now we are trying to find
people willing to head different com
mittees for the project,” Baker said.
Grant-writing, fund-raising, public
input, locating companies, and accept
ing bids are but a few of the project’s
elements.
Over the past 10 years, playgrounds
have changed diamatically, Laughton
explained to the group. “Those things
See SAFETY On Page A2
new, sixth edition book “Cruis
ing Guide to Coastal North
Carolina”, is author Claiborne
Young’s definitive guide to
cruising the waters, and the
complementary film will high
light the best of Young’s writ
ten guide.
“This is a wonderful oppor
tunity for the entire region,”
Town Manager Anne ,Marie
Knighton said. “We are very
excited about the showcasing
of Edenton in this important
documentary. Mr. Claiborne
Young’s books are like the
bible for cruising boaters and
I think this documentary is a
Fall Sports Preview
see Sports B1
Kellogg Supply Co.
to open Edenton store
Town council weighs traffic issues
with new business interests
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
The developers for a planned
commercial subdivision off of
Virginia Road in north
Edenton unveiled a hint of
what is to come on their unde
veloped property at Monday
night’s Town Council meeting.
With a Dare County-based
Kellogg Supply Company in
terested in locating at the site,
Lloyd Griffin III, son of prop
erty-owner Lloyd Griffin Jr.,
said his family is willing to pay
for a stoplight to be installed at
the intersection of Virginia
Road and Whitemon Lane.
Councilors, who approved a
rezoning request by the Grif
fins earlier in the meeting, ac
knowledged that increased
traffic would be a growing con
cern as the proposed commer
cial site was developed.
“We already know we have a
problem there now,” Council
man Steve Biggs said.
Plans taking shape
for new subdivision
From staff reports
A new subdivision on Coke
Avenue is taking shape, and
plans are for Colonial Village
to bring 120 new homes to
Edenton.
Within walking distance of
downtown and the Colonial
Village Shopping Center, the
development is in its first
phase of construction, with
streets and cub and guttering,
as well as underground utili
ties already finished, accord
ing to a press release sent to
The Chowan Herald earlier
this month.
Prices for the homes are set
to begin at $169,000, the release
stated. Plans are to have the
project finished in roughly two
years.
great way to show eastern
North Carolina’s harbors and
waterfront communities.”
Young noted that many rea
sons were the driving force be
hind the new edition, espe
cially technology. Global posi
tioning, nautical maps, as well
as the effects of past hurri
canes and dredging make the
book a must.
The video shows up close the
charming towns that dot the
scenic waterways; their
beauty and appeal. The video
highlights recreational oppor
tunities, historic sites, muse
ums, shopping and tourism
Councilman Dixon
Griffin said the building
supply business, to be located
near the rear of the newly
zoned parcel, would likely not
create enough traffic by itself
to require a stoplight. But he
said state Department of
Transportation officials have
indicated a traffic light would
eventually be needed to handle
added traffic at the intersec
tion, which also includes
See OPEN On Page A2
This is one style of housing
that developers plan to make
available at Colonial Village.
“The homes in this new de
velopment will have many fea
tures designed to give resi
dents a true sense of place in
cluding wrought iron style
fencing, old fashioned carriage
street lamps, matching mail
facilities, three open space ar
eas and covered front
«• See NEW On Page A2
venues (including agriculture,
ecology and heritage themes)
at each stop.
The initial segment, cur
rently being shot, features the
Dismal Swamp Canal, Hert
. ford and the Perquimans Ri
ver, Elizabeth City, as well as
Edenton and the Chowan
River. From the remote north
east corner of NC to the
Chowan River, the largest river
in the Albemarle Sound, this
multi-part documentary sets
out to expose the area’s rich
history and ‘hidden treasures’.
See PBS On Page A2
'Cruising' comes to PBS
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