The
Magazine
2007 Edenton
Woman's Club
Pilgrimage
Is your pet up-to-date?
Upcoming rabies clinics in
Tyner and Hertford
Inside, C5
Student to hold tennis
tourney for senior project
proceeds go to ACS
Sports, B1
Btmaa
Juveniles charged in
vandalism around town
r.Vj-.
. ' ' * ' „
Inside, A2
Hi
David Linhardt pans through black sand brought home from his trips to N.C.'s gold mines.
Earline WhitelThe Chowan Herald
TV show spurs
lucrative hobby for
i Arrowhead Beach
I family
BY EARLINE WHITE
Staff Writer
|
David Linhardt is building a
i portfolio for his 401K.
\ He knows that by the time he’s
; eligible for Social Security the
program may not exist.
Deep in the hard-rock mining
| pits of Cotton Patch near
Albemarle, N.C., and the load
j ' mining camps of Thermal City
Gold Mine in Rutherford County,
j Linhardt and his wife Teresa
1 spend days sorting through red
I No leads in fire on Martin Luther King avenue
i
Residents with tips
are asked to contact
detectives
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
Edenton police are trying to
determine if the cause of a
blaze that gutted an aban
doned house last week was ar
son or accidental.
The two-story house at 701
HI
813
©2006 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
clay and black sand for their fu
ture.
“We were watching the Out
door Channel show “Gold Fever,”
but thought like everybody else—
the old timers have got the gold,
there’s no more to be had,”
Linhardt said.
The eastern gold belt begins in
the Shenadoah Mountain range
in western Virginia and runs
south into Georgia.
And when Linhardt learned
that only 10 percent of all the gold
in the entire world has been dis
covered, he got up the gumption
to check out N.C.’s mines.
“At Thermal City you pay $5 to
pan all day long. That first day I
nearly broke my back. But I got
hooked. There were people from
all over the world — Nova Scotia,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.
was unoccupied at the time of
the fire, police Det. Aaron
Davidson said. The fire was re
ported shortly after 10 p.m. last
Wednesday.
“We have no suspects, no
leads,” Davidson said.
The house, which had no elec
tricity, had recently been fre
quented by homeless people and
crack cocaine users, Davidson
said. He estimates the structure
is a total loss as a result of the
fire.
Canada — they’re all looking for
color [gold].
“The next year I spent two
weeks in the creek dredging
through rocks while Teresa and
Tiara [their daughter] were pan
ning at camp. We came home with
nearly an ounce of gold.”
Unlike American currency, the
value of gold is the same all
across the world, Linhardt said.
“If I were to go to Japan with
an ounce of gold I would receive
$660, just like in England or Af
rica.”
Gold mining is not for the faint
of heart. Many people have died
from landslides, hypothermia and
exposure to the elements. Linhardt
See GOLD, Page A2 >•
“There wasn’t much there
anyway,” he said, “but it’s
pretty much done now.”
Early the following morn
ing, firefighters were called
again to the house, after the
fire re-ignited, Davidson said.
Investigators are still trying
to determine the original
cause of the blaze, the detec
tive added.
Anyone with any informa
tion about the blaze can call
Det. Dwight Rawlins at 482
5144.
Gold Facts:
■Only 10 percent of
the gold in the world
has been found.
■Gold is 19 times
heavier than water;
twice as heavy as lead.
■Fool’s gold
[pyrite]does not shine
in the shade.
■America’s first
gold rush followed the
discovery of a 17
pound nugget by a 12
year-old boy, Conrad
Reed, in Cabarrus
County, N.C. in 1799.
An abandoned house at 701 MLK
was deemed a total loss after the
fire.
Officials give
thumbs down to
curriculum change
More foreign language and math
classes would be required
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Editor
Local school leaders oppose two key features in
a state proposal that would alter the curriculum
at John A. Holmes High School.
One feature would require an additional
foreign language for freshmen in 2008-09. The
other would toughen math courses required
for graduation.
“I’m continually
amazed at their [state
board of education]
lack of foresight. ”
— Gil Burroughs
Currently, Spanish is the only foreign lan
guage being taught on-site in the local
schools.
“I don’t disagree that in today’s world a sec
ond language course such as the one being
proposed would be very beneficial,” Dr. Allan
Smith, school superindent, said.
“But 1 do believe that a better idea would
be to implement the course among younger
students rather than waiting until they reach
high school.”
The second part of the plan calls for all stu
dents to successfully pass math classes in Al
gebra I, Geometry, Algebra II and another
higher-level math class such as calculus in or
der to receive a diploma.
It would eliminate basic math classes cur
rently being taught for students pursuing a
job skills oriented curriculum in favor of a
curriculum followed by those wanting a four
year college education.
Plan needs work
Board of Education member Gil Burroughs,
a retired teacher who taught chemistry and
physics at Holmes, said he thought the plan
had been poorly thought out and clearly fa
vored those going to a university while fail
ing to meet the needs of those who wanted to
learn job skills.
“When did they get so out of touch?” he
said, referring to officials with the state
board of education.
“I’m continually amazed at their lack of
foresight.”
Burroughs remarked that if state education
officials would study the future employment
trends developed by state labor officials, they
would clearly see that the majority of jobs in
North Carolina in the future are not projected
to be in fields that would require a four-year
College degree.
“There’s clearly a disconnect there, isn’t
there?” he said.
“Who’s going to tell the Emperor he doesn’t
have any clothes on?”
Asst. Supt. Rob Boyce said he felt there was
a way to address the issue without resorting
to measures that would virtually turn the
present curriculum on its head.
“Why don’t we fix technical math courses,
if they need end-of-grade tests, or if the cur
riculum is too watered down?” he asked.
See SCHOOL, Page A2 >
v?
• . ( ' ■■ * ■ - m ’
index 1
A Local B Sports/School C Community News D Classifieds
Opinion.A6,7 Recreation News ......B1 Upcoming Events.C2 Buy/Sell/Trade-D1
Land Transfers t.A4 NASCAR... B2 Society.. C4 Service Directory.D2
School .B4 Obituaries...C6 Employment.D3
U "i'.* / - A A *■-“ ‘ ..4., ‘1 / '
1 ’ s §
Church..C7,8
Locals march on the
Pentagon in protest
of the Iraq war
Community, C1
fihn/j Friday & Saturday
ftMKUfWfr April 27 & 28-7:50 PM
Sponsored by Rocky Hock Ruritan
Relay For LifeTeam
EA Swain Auditorium
Edenton, NC
Mail orders call 252-221-4875
or 252-340-3438
Tickets $10.00 Available At
ByrumTnie Value Hardware • Downtown Edenton 252-482-2131
Acoustic Coffee • Downtown Edenton 252-482-7465
Nixon Family Restaurant - Rocky Hock 252-221-2244
Woodard’s Pharmacy - Downtown Hertford 252-426-5527
Billy Smith - Suffolk, VA 757-925-4541