Q&A with
librarian
Naomi
White
Inside, A3
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Falcons run over Aces
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Sports, B1
First Christian Church
pastor is 96 years old
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Church, C8
Gangs still a
no-go here
Police chief lays
out differences
between real
gangs, groups
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
Edenton’s top cop wants to
dispel what he calls a miscon
ception that organized gangs
are operating ip town.
Police Chief Greg Bonner
said neither of two suspected
groups using gang-like names
— the Bloods and Crips — are
actual gangs.
Neither group has the initia
tion process nor the specified
roles for members associated
with a bona fide gang.
True gangs also specialize in
violent crimes, Bonner said.
But that’s not being seen in
Edenton, he added.
“Groups are often local boys
that know each other, often
from the same family he said,”
that have a vendetta against an
individual or a group of indi
viduals.”
Bonner said that’s likely the
case here.
“At this point I wouldn’t
identify a group of guys as a
gang just because they are
wearing red,” he said.
The differences
Members of the two local
groups apparently aren’t given
specific crimes to commit. A
recent fight on East Church
Street appears to be a case of
retaliation between one group
— the so-called Bloods — and
a member of the family living
at that residence, Bonner said.
So far, six arrests have been
made with four warrants still
to be served.
“I think the arrests will
make a significant impact on
it,” the chief said when asked
if those arrests could ease ten
sions between the two groups.
Seeing things dearly
In the meantime, Bonner
hopes local residents under
stand the situation.
“There is a misconception in
most communities when you
have five or six guys together
that are wearing a similar
color,” he said, “that they are
a gang. We want to dispel that *
misconception in this commu
nity.”
“If we had constant calls
about it,” Bonner said of the al
leged gang activity, “I would
have a greater concern that
there may be a formulated
gang.”
Bonner also said he is hesi
tant to identify young adults
standing along town streets in
groups as gangs simply on as
sumption.
“They have a right to as
semble,” he added.
Edenton-Chowan Schools
spokesperson Glenda Jak
ubowski said the recent in
crease in gang-like behavior —
including youths wearing "col
ors” — spurred local officials
to team together to address the
issue.
See GANGS, Page A2>
482-4418
C2006 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
A day at Nixon's Fishery involves
Blood,
Earline White/Ttje Chowan Herald
Fishery veteran Florence Beasley has been skinning fish at Murray Nixon's for 33 years.
BY EARLINE WHITE
Staff Writer
They say that after you’ve been
around fish for a while you can’t
smell it anymore.
But after 33 years skinning, cut
ting and dressing fish at Murray
L. Nixon’s Fishery, Beasley can
still smell it.
Dressed in her gum boots, rub
ber gloves marked “Flo,” and net
covering her wavy black hair,
Beasley says the smell greets her
at the door at seven each morning.
But it doesn’t stop her from eat
ing fish at least once a week —
for the iron, she says.
Beasley stands this morning
before a mound of catfish
(nearly half as tall as she is)
waiting to be cleaned for ship
ping to Kinston.
Around her swirls Spanish
conversations and giggles from
her veteran co-workers Mary
Hayes and Nancy Armstead
who also learned to clean fish
from Murray himself.
Beasley grabs a catfish weigh
ing nearly 8 pounds, pushes its
head onto the screw mounted on
the cutting board, and with a pair
of pliers grabs a whisker. In two
smooth sweeping motions, Beasley
has skinned it clean. She chunks
its body in a bin and reaches for
another.
❖ ❖ ♦
Back when Herring was king
on the Chowan River, fishermen
would pull in close to 1,000 pound
nets a day. Back then you coula
bring in as many fish as your boat
could haul. And there were over
200 fisheries to choose from when
it came time for unloading.
Today, nestled in the pine thickets
of Rocky Hock only one fishery re
mains, struggling to stay afloat
through three generations of new
fishing laws and regulations.
❖ ♦
By 6 a.m. Nixon’s Fishery trucks
have already come and gone, en
route to points in Virginia, Elizabeth
City and the Outer Banks. During
the day a half a dozen local fisher
men will bring in their hauls from
area rivers — crabs, croakers, floun
der and more catfish. Trucks also
are unloading, bringing in cat
fish from China, trout from Ar
gentina.
The concrete dock is a bustle
with men scooping ide onto
fresh fish to be shipped as far
away as New York.
Forklift operators beep back
and forth along the docks loaded
down with boxes labeled for
Chicago, New York.
Inside the office overlooking
the dock, manager Joey Nixon,
See NIXON, Page A2 ►
' IN THIS WEEK'S
CHOWAN HERALD
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'' \ Opinion...,...A6
Land Transfers..... A4
B Sports
Recreation News.. 81
| Nascar... B2
. Coming Next Week: Got a McCafe coffee?
C Community News
Upcoming Events......... C2
■ Society...... C3
1 ’* Obituaries . C6
t Church.... C7,8
Coming Next Week f
: i *-vS
Good times
at the county f
fair caught v;
on film
Sandy Point not
out of the weeds
Canals excluded from
state permits for now
*
BY SEAN JACKSON
The Chowan Herald
The Sandy Point subdivision is back
before state review, but a key part of the
application have been taken off the table
for now: a pair of canals.
While two permits have been issued
for the large, waterfront development, its
inland harbor could be in jeopardy, ac
cording to Chowan County Manager
Cliff Copeland.
“Unfortunately, it would lose a lot of
its value as a one-of-a-kind effort in this
state,” Copeland said when asked what
impact the loss of the canals could have
on the project.
The project’s developer acknowledges
that there is still one hurdle to clear.
State environmental officials have cited
aquatic plants along the shore as being
imperiled by the developer.
To overcome this hurdle, the developer
is seeking a variance to allow the canals
to be built. ^
“We’re just trying to overcome the
problem,” developer Sam Young said last
week.
Revising the plan
Overcoming the problem could re
quire eliminating some of the original
features of the plan. Located on the
northern banks of the Albemarle Sound
just south of Edenton, the subdivision
is slated to have hundreds of homes, a
marketplace, and a harbor with a navi
gable channel.
It’s that last feature that caused con
cerns with the state Division of Marine
Fisheries. Under the current plans,
dredging for the channels could affect
the underwater plants. The plants
| bloomed heavily this summer and forced
| the project to go on hold for about a
| month.
Developers are now working on a miti
| gation plan that would allow for the
channels to connect with the harbor. The
state Coastal Resources Commission will
have the final say on whether or not that
can happen.
Can the re-tooling work?
“I think it’s possible,” Copeland said of
the project retaining its channels and har
bor. “We obviously hope the [commission]
staff would support the variance request.
To me, it’s a no-brainer”
One of the primary fixes is to construct a
breakwater about 200 feet offshore,
Copeland said. The breakwater would pro
tect the plants and still allow access into the
inland harbor. -
“It’s going to cost a lot of money to build
it,” Copeland said of the proposed breakwa
ter.
The earliest the commission would hear
the request would be either November or
January, Copeland said.
Copeland said he remains optimistic that
Sandy Point will be the unique, flourishing
development that it was projected to be.
“The project is building momentum,” he
said. “We feel like we’re close to putting a
package together to enable Sandy Point to
move forward.”
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