Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / Jan. 24, 2007, edition 1 / Page 1
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482-4418 Wednesday, January 24, 2007 Students collect Century Farm data Community, C1 Clambake nears Sports, B1 To keep up with times, town needs high speed BY SEANI JACKSON Staff Writer Surfing the Web in Edenton and parts of Chowan County could become more convenient — and faster — soon. Town councilors heard a sec ond appeal from Net Change.com on Monday night. The Edenton-based company wants to put an antenna on a town water tower to provide wireless, high-speed Internet service to local customers. Net-Change spokesperson Jennifer Winston said the an tenna would provide service to residents in a swatch from Yeopim to Valhalla. “The performance is going to be a lot better,” Winston told council during the board’s Fi nance Committee meeting. “The upload and download speeds are going to be very fast,” Winston added. An issue of fairness At least two councilors voiced concerns about the fair ness of the deal. Net-Change wants to rent space on the tower for $200 a month. Other communications companies rent space for as much as $1,400 a month, Town Manager Anne-Marie Knighton said. Net-Change has offered to provide in-kind Internet ser vice to some town depart ments, including the fire de partment, the wastewater treatment plant, and North eastern Regional Airport. Councilman Steve Biggs said the town should consider the difference in charges be fore making a final decision. Council could vote on Net Change’s request at its Feb. 13 meeting. “All I want to do is be consis tent,” Biggs said. A valuable tool A Net-Change official esti mated the monthly cost to con sumers for the service could range from between $40 to $45 a month. Business owner Linda Ashley said businesses need the fastest Internet service available in order to survive in the modern workplace. “You can’t conduct a busi See INTERNET, Page A2 > INDEX A Local Land Transfers......A4 Opinion...A6 B Sports Recreation News...... B1 Nascar.......B2 School..B3,4 C Community News Upcoming Events .....C2 Society...C4 Obituaries.. C6 | Church.C7,8 D Classifieds Employment.D1 Service Directory.D2 Buy/Sell/Trade .D4 02006 The Chowan Herald All Rights Reserved A flock of a similar feather Joe Albea Over 3,000 more tundra swans were counted in local wintering grounds in Chowan County. Record number of tundra swans recorded in Chowan, Washington ctmnties BY EARLINE WHITE Staff Writer A mid-winter waterfowl inventory taken in early January revealed 3,000 more tundra swans in Chowan than the year be fore. Pocosin Lakes in nearby Washington County also re ported a record number of tundra swans and snow geese. On Jan. 3, approximately 4,787 swans were noted in the areas of Yeopim Creek, Edenton Bay and the Chowan River, up from 1,753 in 2006. Though the numbers con tinue to rise, officials with the state and national wild life resource commissions said the inventory typically Kay Newsom perishes in Cape Colony fire BY EARLINE WHITE Staff Writer When Roy and Kay Newsom’s only son, Jeff, was killed over 20 years ago it be gan a downward spiral for the couple. Grief stricken, the couple that once bubbled with life, no longer shared the same enthu siasm. Years later, when Kay was diagnosed with macular de generation eye disease and fibromyalgia, the spiral con tinued. Her husband, “Rudy”, piddled on, making birdhouses in the backyard, but he too car ried a sad reminder of his son, and the daunting task of car ing for his wife who had be come legally blind. On Thursday at approxi mately 3:10 a.m.,‘ tragedy struck the family once more. A fire that began in the Cy press Drive home quickly spread and Kay Newsom who was known in the community as a sweet, giving person, was tragically caught in the flames. T rises and falls. “The numbers simply wax and wane,” Joe Fuller with the state wildlife office said. “But there haven’t been any noticeable trends in the last 10-15 years. It all depends on the time when the count was conducted.” Seventy to 80 percent of the entire eastern population of tundra swan winter in northeastern N.C. and feed on the surrounding agricul tural lands. “The seemingly influx of swans could be the result of migratory differences,” John Stanton, migratory bird specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said. Because weather is such an enormous factor in the path of a migratory bird, Earline White/The Chowan Herald An electric space heater may have caused an early morning fire that killed a Chowan resident. The cause of death was smoke inhalation and thermal injury. She was 59. Also lost in the fire was Newsom’s beloved dog Boo Boo. This was the second fatal death by fire in approximately five years. Chief Westbrook with the Edenton fire depart ment said. The probable cause of the Mid-Winter Waterfowl Inventory In Chowan County — Yeopim Creek, Edenton Bay, Chowan River Jan. 2007 — 4,787 Jan. 2005 — 961 Jan. 2006 — 1,753 Jan. 2004 — 2000 — Source: Joe Fuller, N.C. Wildlife Resource Commission byways (four specific i routes across the country that migratory birds follow; ; N.C. is a part of the Atlan- i tic Flyway) experience ] population increases at dif- 1 ferent times. This year the ] chilly weather may have s prompted the swans to stay i in the state a little longer. i “Magnitudes of tens of 1 thousands of swans would certainly be noteworthy, as < compared to 3,000, but over- s all the population of tundra 1 swans are fairly stable, ap- i proximately 26,000, the same it’s been for the past j seven years," Stanton said. \ At Pocosin Lakes the in- 1 creased number of waterfowl i spurs interest in the site \ where the Navy’s proposed site for an outlying landing f field would remove the bird’s s Cypress Drive fire was an elec tric space heater, Westbrook added. “By the time Roy knocked on my door the flames were al ready really big,” neighbor Jennifer Forward said. Roy Newsom suffered seri ous injury after trying several times to combat the flames and retrieve his wife. But the heat and flames only pushed him T wintering habitat. “As 26,000 tundra swans ind 78,000 snow geese have eminded us, the Pocosin ^akes National Wildlife Ref tge is an internationally im lortant site for these birds,” aid Derb Carter, attorney rep esenting the environmental nterests in the case against he Navy’s plans for an OLF. Officials are pleased how wer that the numbers remain table, showing that strategies o manage the population are vorking. “It’s always difficult to trike a balance to provide a ariety of species of birds or human enjoyment while llowing hunting and har esting,” Stanton added. Another count of water owl will take place in the pring. away. Newsom was treated at the burn center at Norfolk Gen eral. “It’s a tragedy,” Clara Belangia, first cousin to the victim said. Belangia and her brother, Spencer, paused out side of the charred home on a drizzling Thursday afternoon. See NEWSOM, Page A2 ► Forum focuses on school needs Holmes renovations among discussed topics BY REBECCA BUNCH Editor They spoke of crowded classrooms, deteriorating schools and lack of modern equipment that could be par tially addressed with a $2 mil lion bond referendum. The speakers, representing region one at a public school needs forum Thursday at John A. Holmes High School, shared their concerns with an audi ence of about 125 area resi dents. The forum was spon sored by the Education: Everybody’s Business Coa lition, which is working to ensure passage of the referen dum. Chesson Holmes has great needs It is Holmes High School, ac cording to Dr. Allan Smith, su perintendent of the Edenton Chowan Schools, which among our schools is in greatest need of improvement. Smith said during an inter view while the other three schools in the system face chal lenges relating to near-capac ity enroll ment, Holmes has had only patchwork re pairs done over the past 30 to 40 years. He said critical needs at the Holmes site include a new media center, a new gym nas ium and a new auditorium. * Other items that need atten tion are additional classroom . space (some students are cur rently attending classes in mobile units behind the school), a larger band room and cafeteria. . Dowd Getting bond on ballot Smith said that getting the . bond issue on the November ballot is something that state education officials will be working hard to do after the state General Assembly recon venes this Thursday. “This is something that we have been working on for a while now,” Smith said, noting that he has already received assurances from the county government that they too rec ognize the importance of see ing an improved Holmes High School. Smith said that a public fa cility needs document drafted in December 2005 outlined needs at the high school total ing $20,267,256. And, he noted, costs have only gone up since then. In preparation for moving forward with the project, the school system has had architect’s renderings pre pared showing how the school could look once improvements are made. “We are committed to mak ing sure that this redesign hap pens whether the bond issue passes or not,” he said. “We are See FORUM, Page A2 ► *
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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Jan. 24, 2007, edition 1
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