Single Copies 50£
Vol. LXXII, No. 44
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
Neglected cattle spotted, reported by PETA
County officials to work with state experts to restore animal’s health
Photo courtesy of The Daily Advance
One of the cows alleged to be underfed on a Chowan
County cattle farm is shown in this image that was pro
vided to local officials. They are looking into charges by
PETAthat some 30 undernourished cattle are living on an
Edenton farm located on Paradise Road.
Polsters
have time
on their
hands
Local election
turnout ‘light’
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
Poll officials had plenty of
free time on their hands Tues
day, with light voter turnout
for Edenton’s municipal elec
tions drawing in sparse num
bers to cast ballots.
At-large Councilman Jerry
Parks, Third Ward Council
woman Phyllis Britton, and
Fourth Ward Councilman
Willis Privott were the only
names on ballots Tuesday
All three incumbents were
running unopposed and were
expected to easily win re-elec
tion.
At the West Edenton pre
‘ cinct, a mere 19 voters had hit
the polling booths by mid
morning.
“It’s been light,” precinct
chief judge Becky McArthur
i said.
Like McArthur and other
East Edenton officials, work
ers at the town’s other voting
place were eagerly waiting vot
ers.
“We’re keeping busy,”
Darnell White, chief judge for
the East Edenton precinct, said
mid-morning Tuesday.
Only 15 voters had cast bal
lots by 10:30 a.m. Officials
there were not expecting to
exceed 100 voters by the time
See ELECTION Page A2
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
Chowan County officials are
teaming with state animal ex
perts in hopes of nourishing
roughly 30 underfed cattle
back to health, Edenton
Chowan Special Projects Of
ficer Peter Rascoe said Tues
day.
The cattle, located on a farm
on Paradise Road, were discov
ered over the weekend by a
worker with the Norfolk, Va.
based People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals. That
worker filed the complaint
Sunday afternoon.
The Chowan County she
riff’s and animal control de
“We want to move these cases” - Chowan DA Frank Parrish
Chowan DA answers critics
Parrish meets with
Edenton Discussion
Group; offers way to
resolve issues
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
District Attorney Frank Parrish says
his prosecutors handle plea bargains care
fully and diligently, but mistakes can still
happen.
Parrish, guest speaker at the Edenton
Discussion Group’s meeting Monday
night, told the roughly 20 people on hand
at That Fancy Cafe that a plea in Chowan
County this spring “failed horribly.”
The defendant, Cornelius Perkins of
Suffolk, Va., avoided jail time though he
had faced a slew of weapons and robbery
charges stemming from a June 2004 crime
spree in Edenton. Parrish admitted the
evidence against Perkins “was pretty
solid.”
“There will be an ongoing conversation
about your case, I promise you,” Parrish
told the father of one of Perkins’ robbery
victim.
Though grilled initially by some ques
tioners about the volume of pending cases
here, Parrish said the backlog of criminal
cases in Chowan County Superior Court
is not solely due to prosecutors’ delays.
Parrish, the district attorney since 1994,
said testing of evidence, interviewing wit
nesses, and defense lawyers’ schedules all
play a part in delays.
Chowan County Magistrate Dennis
Halloran pointed out that at least one de
fendant he’s charged has waited two years
for, his cases to go in front of a judge.
“That is an unusually long time,”
Parrish said. .. *
Efforts are being made to stem the back
log in Chowan, Parrish said.
“We want to move cases,” he added. •
One effort to bring criminal cases to
trial in Chowan more quickly is a special
partments are working with
state Agriculture Extension
livestock specialists to deter
mine the cause — and cure —
for the emaciated cows. •
“What the specialists are re
porting back to me,” Rascoe
said, “is (the cows) are very old
to be bred.”
The underfed cows, most
ranging in age from 16 to 17
years, have been separated
from the calves they had been
nursing, Rascoe said.
In addition, a strict feeding
and care regimen will be rec
ommended to the cattle’s
owner, one that likely would be
followed for about four weeks,
See CATTLE On Page A2
DA Frank
Parrish (top
photo)
answers a
question
during the
meeting. At
left, local
Magistrate
Dennis
Halloran
listens.
superior court session set for Nov. 28 through Dec.
2.
Parrish also said that special session should help
ease overcrowding at the Chowan County Detention
Facility. The jail’s capacity is 22, but recently housed
51 inmates, Parrish said.
“We’ve put a lot of jail cases on this next calen
dar,” he added.
Parrish was also asked if prosecutors would be
gin a jury trial while.a plea deal was in the works.
“You definitely never should begin a trial when
you know there’s a plea deal,” being arranged he
said.
Parrish, who said he’s personally prosecuted
more than 300 cases, said prosecutors should always
plan to seek a verdict once a jury is empanelled.
“There is nothing that... focuses the mind,” he
See CRITICS On Page A2
• Go directly to jail
Monopoly missing
link is stolen, lost
From Staff Reports p- ■ ■
A Chowan County
man has been charged
with the alleged theft of
a McDonald’s Monopoly
Boardwalk game-piece
that reportedly belonged
to his friend.
Kevin William Old
ham, 19, of 300 Okisko
Trail, Edenton, was ar
rested Oct. 23 and
charged with misde
meanor larceny. He was
released on a $500 unse
L
cured bond. According
to Chowan County Sher
iff Fred Spruill, Oldham
See LOST Page A2
Occupancy tax
increase endorsed
Also, Federal cutbacks mean
less childcare through DSS
BY EARLINE WHITE
The Chowan Herald
Tourism officials, local
lodging proprietors as well
as interested county offi
cials turned out for the final
vote on the proposed in
crease in occupancy tax for
Chowan County at the No
vember meeting of the
Chowan County Commis
sioners. With a unanimous
vote of 6 (Commissioner
Louis Belfield was absent)
the occupancy tax increase
from three to five percent
was approved, effective De
cember 1, 2005. The slight
tax, that will affect only
those who come to stay at
one of Edenton’s fine hotel/
motel or B&B facilities, will
generate approximately
$43,000 in additional rev
enue for the Tourism Devel
opment Authority which
promotes the county.
In other business, the
Commissioners:
• Heard a report from So
cial Services Director Ben
Rose concerning the latest
proposed Federal cutbacks
in DSS funding including
large ones to the WorkFirst
program, $600 million in
cuts to child welfare, $844
million reduction in Food
Stamps over the next 5
years, $750 million in cuts to
Medicaid over 5 years, and
a cut to administraive reim
bursement funds.
“Cuts like these are un
fortunately like a train we
cannot stop,” Rose said.
“Though cuts may not oc
cur exactly like prescribed,
they will occur in some
form or fashion.”
WorkFirst, a Federal pro
gram aimed to get people
off welfare and back into
employment, will be dra
matically impacted by cuts
made to available day care
facilities for those now
working parents. Already
there is a waiting list of 125
children. Rose said, “We
worry about our working
poor not being able to sus
tain child care when they
need it and perhaps slipping
back into welfare” because
there is no funding avail
able for the children at
home.
Cuts to Medicaid will '
make it even harder to get
long-term care for patients,
Rose said.
The administrative mon
ies, those that involve child
support, contain a percent
age of reimbursement that
the department gets for
child support activities over
a 5-year period. If the cur
rent bill is passed, the funds
will be reduced from 66% to
50%. “Therefore, now, when
we spend $1000 for costs in
child support, we get $660
back from Federal govern
ment, that will go down to
$500 over the course of
time,” Rose said.
The Federal government
is also looking to reduce in
centive funds over time,
those based on performance
to 6 child support standards
See TAX On Page A2
INSIDE
Calendar.C2
Church.C5
Classifieds..... D1-4
•Editorials.. A6
Obituaries.C6
School.C 7
Society.C3
Sports.B1-4
Teacher assistants were honored during the BOE meeting
Chowan BOE tackles budget
Newly minted teachers also certified Monday
BY EARLINE WHITE
The Chowan Herald
The 2004-2005 fiscal audit as
Well as the 2005-2006 budget
resolution were among the
items approved at the Novem
ber meeting of the Edenton/
Chowan Board of Education.
According to auditor, Donna
Winborne, Edenton/Chowan
schools operated last year with
a $262,000 appropriation front
the fund balance, one similar
to many households’ “rainy
day” accounts. Winborne sug
gested that the school system
build the fund balance back up
to its previous amounts, for
future rainy days.
“We’ve been very lucky to
have had such a healthy fund
balance to help us through
these tight times. We want to
See BUDGET On Page A2
ffP^JIItlilL BasUetbaNT*^?
(ages 5-1 8) and Yofillr
Cheer leading (ages 8-12)
/, Hepistrafion
Registration will lake
lace at NCCC & Walke
Community Center'll