Vol. LXXIII, No. 14
Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Single Copies: 50c
Campaign
signs back
on the job
Sheriff’s Deputy
reports new thefts;
No arrests so far
BY REBECCA BUNCH
The Chowan Herald
More than a dozen missing
campaign signs are back in
place, but questions remain
about flieir recent disappear
ance.
According to the Chowan
County Sheriff’s Office, Eden
ton Police Detective Rhonda
Copeland, a candidate for sher
iff, filed a report March 18 stat
ing that 16 of her campaign
signs had been stolen. Cope
land later revised that total to
100 signs.
In a news released provided
to The Chowan Herald Tues
day morning, Sheriff Fred
Spruill said an eyewitness to
two of the thefts had provided
authorities with a description
of a suspect'and a vehicle.
Those thefts took place on Cen
ter Hill Road.
Spruill added that since this
report was received, numerous
signs - some backing Copeland,
an Edenton Police Detective,
and some backing her oppo
nent in the sheriff’s race,
Deputy Dwayne Goodwin -
have disappeared around the
county. Goodwin reportedly
has had 15 signs taken.
Sheriff Spruill said that dur
ing the course of his office’s
investigation, “a number of
individuals were interviewed.
We were able to determine that
several individuals were hav
ing a contest to see how many
signs they could collect. It was
also determined that some in
dividuals would remove signs
from one area and relocate
them to an area they felt would
be more favorable to the can
didate they personally en
dorsed.”
The sheriff asserted that be
cause of publicity surround
ing the thefts, he doubted any
additional recovery of stolen
signs would occur.
Copeland told the Chowan
Herald Tuesday that she is con
sidering pressing charges.
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Brisk demand for tickets spur interest in other products, merchants say
Lottery sales boost traffic
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
The North Carolina lottery
could aid more than public
education, if early reports of
booming business at Chowan
County stores prove accurate.
Not only are tickets selling
briskly, other items are being
scooped up by customers, too,
officials at Frog Crossing said
late Monday afternoon.
“It’s really something, I’m
Air Force Stu ff Sgt- Ashley S. Brokop
A 42-person scont team and convoy enter the mock village at Avon Park, FL, during deployment preparation
training on March 29. More than 250 service members participated in Atlantic Strike III. A similar training
exercise is planned at the Northeastern Regional Airport south of Edenton this Friday evening.
A A*
Marines to
the rescue
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
Hostages held inside an abandoned lumber-mill
building, their captors close by. Cobra helicopters
bolting in from the south, dropping commandos
in for the rescue. The roar of blades and engines
mixed with gunfire. This will be the scene at the
Northeastern Regional Airport south of Edenton
this Friday evening, but there won’t be any rea
son for citizens to panic.
These activities will just be part of a training
exercise for the U.S. Marine Corps. About 100 Ma
rines and role-players are expected to take part in
Mid-century relic will go up for auction
BY EARLINE WHITE
The Chowan Herald
The old White Oak School, a structure that has
heard the echoes of children at work and at play for
over fifty years, is to be auctioned to the highest bid
der. Sale of the building was approved Monday night
by the Chowan County Board of Commissioners
during their regular monthly meeting.
The former school building, located on Dillard’s
Mill Road in northern Chowan County, was erected
in 1951. It served as an elementary school for Chowan
County students until the construction of the cur
rent White Oak School on Sandy Ridge Road at the
turn of the millennium.
The old White Oak school was vacant only tempo
rarily. Soon qfter the students and teachers had taken
their textbooks to Sandy Ridge, the Chowan/
Perquimans/Gates Partnership for Children moved
in and utilized the facility. The Edenton-Chowan
Recreation Department also continued to use the
gymnasium for gymnastics classes.
But the costs to maintain the county building be
came burdensome and in January 2006 the Partner
telling you,” business owner
Joe Lee said as the 5 p.m. cus
tomers began to filter in, add
ing — in some cases — a hand
ful of scratch-off lottery tick
ets to their purchase.
Lee and his daughter, Penny
Norman, said their store on
Virginia Road had sold
roughly 5,000 tickets in less
than five days since the North
Carolina Education Lottery
began on March 30.
“We didn’t anticipate the
business like this,” Lee added.
Revenues have doubled, Lee
said, with the new lottery tick
ets and the business’s ex
panded hours.
Barbara Renn, whose family
owns and operates Floyd’s Cor
ner just north of Frog Cross
ing, also said ticket sales have
been brisk.
“They’ve been selling re
ally good,” Renn said. Floyd’s
See LOTTERY On Page A2
V: :■
CH-46 & CH-53 helicopters, along with
Cobra gunships and a C-130 transport will
hold a mock exercise on Friday at the
Chowan Regional Arport
the training exercise, Marine Capt. Will Clumpp said
Monday.
Plans are for members of the 24th Marine Expedi
tionary Unit from Catnp Lejeune to hone their com
bat skills needed in such a hostage crisis, and for resi-.
dents living near the airport not to fear that an inva
sion is taking place virtually in their backyards.
FBI Special Agent Bob Myrick said helicopters will
drop Marines near the airport, who will then head
for an abandoned lumber mill complex where the
hostages and their captors—think insurgents in Iraq
with their captives — will be hunkered down. The
See RESCUE On Page A2
Earline White/The Chowan Herald
The former White Oak Elemental? School in northern Chowan
County will soon go on the auction block for a miminum of $65,000.
ship for Children left the school for a centrally located site
in Edenton.
It was the Finance Committee’s recommendation that the
county resources currently being used to maintain the
See AUCTION On Page A2
Sean Jackson/Ihe Chowan Herald
Margaret Welch sports a big grin as she purchases tickets at Frog
Crossing, Local store owners say sales have been strong.
Bankrupt
businesses
cost the town
Failed business and retailers leave
Edenton holding the bag for
$332,000 in utilities, fines
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
Working with three local failed companies
has cost Edenton roughly $332,000 in lost rev
enue from electric bills, but it was the result
of an attempt to help keep employees on the
job, Town Manager
Anne-Marie Knighton
said Monday.
The town absorbed the
losses after Evans Lum
ber Co., Chowan Veneer,
and Winn-Dixie closed
down over the past
couple of years without
paying power costs owed
to the town.
Knighton said Mon
day that she worked with
the two lumber busi
nesses in an effort to keep their employees
on company payrolls. But that plan didn’t pan
out.
“In retrospect,” Knighton said, “I think I
was more focused on the economic develop
ment side of it than the business side.”
Evans Lumber and Winn-Dixie filed for
bankruptcy, leaving the town with no option
but to continue provided electricity. Bank
ruptcy laws prohibit utility providers from
disconnecting services once a business has
been declared bankrupt. Chowan Veneer was
making weekly payments, but when they
missed a payment, the Town pulled the meter.
See TOWN On Page A2
Deadline nears for
'party hoppers'
BY EARLINE WHITE
The Chowan Herald
The weeks pass quickly leading up to the
primary election in May that will decide
which Democrat takes the helm in the
Chowan County Sheriff’s Office. Time also
ticks away for those registered as anything
other than Democrat to vote in the May 2,2006
election.
Any change in party affiliation, address,
name, etc., must be registered with the Board
of Elections prior to April 7 in order to en
sure a vote in the Sheriff’s race. Changes can
be noted on voter registration forms, which
can be obtained from the Board of Elections
office on E. King Street, J. A. Holmes high
school, the Department of Social Services,
COA and the Shepard-Pruden Memorial
See DEADLINE On Page A2