Vol. LXXIII, No. 12
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Single Copies: 50c
Ticket
tabs set
■ \
to soar
Five dollar penalties not
considered deterrent;
crossing double yellow
lines will cost you $25
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
Violating a pair of Edenton
traffic offenses got a little cost
lier on March 14, as the Town
Council opted to boost the fines
for parking and turning viola
tions in the downtown district.
With a unanimous 6-0 vote,
councilors raised parking
fines from $5 to $10, while the
newly imposed cost for cross
ing the double-yellow lines
downtown to park was upped
from $5 to $25.
Last month, Town Manager
Anne-Marie Knighton said
motorists would likely ignore
the penalty for violating no
left-turn ordinance approved
last fall if the fine was kept at
its current rate of $5.
“People just laugh about
having to pay the five dollars,”
Knighton told The Chowan
Herald. “They don’t take it se
• riously at all.”
Currently, the town enforces
a two-hour parking limit from
8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday
through Friday.
In other business from
council's March 14 meeting:
• Wharf Landing received
approval for a request to give
the waterfront development’s
zoning classification a Resort/
Conference Facility designa
tion. Developers plan to build
a hotel or inn, as well as a con
ference center, at the site lo
cated just south of the Chowan
River Bridge.
• Council unanimously ap
( proved amending Edenton’s
Unified Development Ordi
nance to give the Edenton
Preservation Commission
the authority to stop any
demolition plans for proper
ties determined to have state
wide or national historical
significance.
Contact us
Call 482-4418
©2006 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Bustin’ out!
Mary Kay Coyle
Welcome, spring
Tuesday officially marked the first day of spring and already some hints of color are appearing in local
gardens. This photo shot in the Cupola House gardens last spring offers a lovely reminder of the beauty
locals and visitors will enjoy in the weeks to come.
“We’re going to do everything we can to help her get her signs back.”
- Chowan Sheriff’s Deputy Dwayne Goodwin
Thieves aim
i
to thwart
campaign
Sean Jacksonville Chowan Herald
Nearly 100 signs promoting Rhonda Copeland
for sheriff have been pilfered, largely in ru
ral areas of northern Chowan County.
See CALL On Page A2
Lumber yard OK'd for Virginia Road
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
A Manteo-based hardware-sup
ply business was given approval
by the Edenton Town Council on
March 14 to locate a new business
on the outskirts of town.
Kellogg Supply Co. Inc. was
given the OK for a conditional-use
permit to begin plans for a lum
ber yard and retail store at 548
Virginia Road, across from the
former Chowan Teen Center.
Kellogg official Tom Blanchard
said his company plans to develop
the lumber yard and hardware
supply store on roughly five acres
of the 8.53-acre site. The lumber
yard will be erected during the
first phase of development, while
the 30,000-sqaure-foot retail store
would be during phase two of the
project, Blanchard told council
ors.
“That will be our primary
structure in phase one,”
Blanchard said of the open-sided
building that would be used for
lumber delivery and sales.
He said specific plans for the
total development of the site
would be better known following
a future review by the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers for roughly
3.5 acres of wetlands on the prop
erty. In the meantime, Kellogg
would install a fence around the
wetlands to protect that portion
of the site, Blanchard said.
In addition, plans are to have
separate entry/exit roads for cus
tomers’ cars and larger delivery
trucks, respectively, Blanchard
added. That is the format used for
Kellogg’s, central location in
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
A candidate for the ChowaixCounty sheriff’s race has
has seen a spcte of campaign ’Agns stolen from support
ers’ yards, and she’s relying on’the Sheriff’s department
to find those responsible.
Edenton Police Det. Sgt. Rhonda Copeland said Mon
day that about 100 of her election signs have been stolen
in less than a week out of the 200 total distributed to date.
Her husband Durwood placed most of the signs out, and
now he’ll likely have to make return trips, Copeland said.
Support for her campaign has been good, Copeland
said. But the theft of her signs is a hindrance.
“It's really put me in a bad position,” she said. “Signs
are not cheap.”
At $4 apiece, the stolen signs cost Copeland’s campaign
roughly $400. Then there’s the lost time and gas money
used to distribute the signs.
“It’s really put a dent in things,” she said.
Most of the signs that went missing were from north
ern Chowan, in the Rocky Hock/Tyner communities on
Virginia and Center Hill roads, as well as some from
Macedonia Road, closer to Edenton.
However, one Copeland supporter saw a thief pull a
sign out of her yard around 11 a.m. on March 16. In broad
daylight.
“Th is person was right out in her yard, ” Copeland said.
Because of so many missing signs, at least one woman
asked Copeland if the candidate — who would be
Chowan’s first female sheriff if elected in November’s’
Manteo, he added.
“We figure that would be the
easiest way for customers and
larger trucks to enter and exit our
building,” he said. “We know
about the (positive) impact of tak
ing every safety precaution.”
Council unanimously ap
proved the request at its March
14 meeting following a public
hearing during which there was
no opposition to Kellogg’s
plans. Council made that ap
proval after determining that
the project would not adversely
effect surrounding property
owners’ land values, public
health and safety, and that the
plans meshed with the town’s
land-use and development
plans.
Officials did not say when
work on the site would begin.
Mime,
sublime
Emmy award winner to visit
Edenton as part of ‘ World Tour’
Submitted photo
Robert Shields as the ‘original’ street mime.
BY EARLINE WHITE
The Chowan Herald
World-renown street mime, Emmy win
ner, performance artist, jewelry designer
and television star, Robert Shields will be
making a stop on his world tour on Satur
day, March 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Swain Audito
rium. Sponsored by the Chowan Arts Coun
cil, tickets for members are $15, $20 for non
members.
Robert Shields began what is now a long- .
running career as a performance artist on
the streets of San Francisco. His street
mime routine at Union Station won him so
much notoriety in fact that it was there, at
the age 18 that he was discovered by world
renowned mime Marcel Marceau. Shields
was offered a full scholarship to Marceau’s
school in Paris but found his desire to take
the arts to the streets too powerful to over
come in a classroom setting.
He returned to the states and with tellow
mime Lorene Yarnell, launched a highly
successful CBS show “Shields & Yarnell”
His original scripted television special
“Toys on the Town” earned him an Emmy.
Shields’ creative outlets next led him to
the world of decorative art. He established
a jewelry design studio and retail store in
Sedona Arizona. It soon grew into a chain
of stores and a wholesale jewelery and ac
cessory line.
Shields met with A1 Gustave, creative
force behind American Classics and to
gether formed a company called “Fool’s
Moon”, offering unique and decorative
sculpture and accessories designed by
Shields and made by Gustave. Over time
See MIME On Page A2
Man held on charge
of sexual assault
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
An Edenton man was arrested on March 12 on
a charge of attempted rape at a Vann Street resi
dence.
Claude Miles Brinkley,
48, of 1023 Badham Road,
was charged with second
degree attempted rape,
Edenton Police Det. Aaron
Davidson said Monday.
Brinkley was jailed at the
Chowan County Detention
Facility under a $40,000 se
cured bond. He made his
first court appearance on March 14.
The female victim of the sexual assault made
Spe CHARGES On Page A2
YEOPIM RURITAN CLUB
BBQ Chicken Fundraiser
SATURDAY,
LUNCH: HAM-2PM DINNER: 4PM-7PM
MARCH 25™ EAT-IN OR TAKE-OUT
Jaycee/Ruritan Bids. - SoundsideRd. rickets: Clao Griffin 482-1290 or Larry Wilson *82-i011