INSIDE
Ju/temcuw
Si mlnie id
C4&5
Steamers beat OBX
Daredevils Friday bi
1 Air station
i examined
I
| for dangers
I Possible soil
j contamination at
1 Naval Air Base
I Further study is
| needed, Corps of
5 Engineers says
| By Vernon Fueston
Contributing Writer
| The Army’s Corps of En
I gineers has determined that
I three sites at the old Edenton
% Naval Air Station deserve
I further study due to possible
;f soil contamination.
;| No immediate action is
; planned and no date was set
’! for follow up studies. The
:%■ possible problems identified
| consisted of soil contamina
i tion by lead and other chem
icals.
| ■ .
No dangers found
y John Baden, project man
| ager for the Corps’review of
I the station said there was no
immediate safety or health
| issues.
Baden declined to give a
: date wheji the army will re
f visit the old base.
“I couldn’t hazard a guess
at this time,” he said. “There
are a lot of projects with high
er priorities. This doesn’t
raise a lot of red flags.”
| . • - :
Three sites of interest
He said that three sites
| raised the group’s interest.
j| The first, an earthen wall
I called a “gun butt,” was
identified as a potential site
contaminated by lead from
machine gun bullets.
| Aircraft used to taxi to the
gun butt and unload any re
maining ammunition by fir
ing the rounds into the dirt.
| Today that site is used as
| the backstop for the town’s
police pistol range, so no
plans are proposed to re
move the lead.
Military skeet shooting
Another site is a World
j War II era Army Air Corps
skeet shooting range. Ac
cording to the reports’ site
map, the range was located
in Cape Colony.
The site was used to train
i ■ . ■
See AIR FIELD, Page A2 >
i
INDEX
! A Local
Editorial .....A7
Land Transfers...A5
■
B Sports
Recreation News.B1
Nasear..B2
C Community News
Upcoming Events.C2
Society...C3
Obituaries.C6
Church.C7,8
D Classifieds
Buy/Sell/Trade.....D1
Service Directory.D2
| Employment..D4
02006 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
RACES BEGIN AT 8:30 A.M. SATURDAY; FESTIVAL FUN AT NOON
Enjoy music, food, crafts, sports, demonstrations and learning activities for children and adults.
Come out and have a fun day on the bay. See-C2 for festival details.
Seniors say ‘no’ to kids in complex
Beechwood developers
encouraged to restrict
age at new property
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
Some seniors attending an
informational meeting Satur
day morning on the Beechwood
subdivision made one thing per
fectly clear — they don’t want
to have to listen to a lot of noise
from children.
Sumit Gupta, co-developer
with his brother Amit, of the
52-acre property located behind
Chowan Crossing Shopping Cen
ter, assured them that would not
be a problem at the site of the re
tirement community they have
in mind.
“One part of the subdivision
could be age-restricted,” he said
in response to a question from
local resident Craig Miller about
Phase I of the project.
At this point, Gupta said, chil
dren would be allowed to live in
Locals to star in Lost
Colony drama
By Vernon Fueston
Contributing Writer
There will be no summer
vacation from school this
year for Razi and Riaz Lane.
As part of their home
schooling program, the boys
will be joining the cast of
the Lost Colony, presenting
the story of America’s first
English colony six nights
each week.
Their father, Alton Lane,
said the family is very com
mitted to education and
looks for any experience
that will enrich what the
boys learn from books.
“We don’t take summers
and holidays off,” he said.
“It’%a 24/7 experience. Even
going to the grocery store is
an educational experience.”
Appearing in the Lost Col
ony has involved no small
amount of sacrifice for the
family.
Alton works for the Post
Office in Hertford. He will
remain at home while the
rest of the family stays at a
rented house on the Outer
the subdivision.
Gupta answered that and other
questions during the hour-long
meeting intended to allow the
developers to meet one on one
with locals and listen to their
concerns.
Gupta said that his company
is hearing there may be a need
for family-friendly housing in
the community for teachers and
other pi'ofessionals who may
have difficulty finding affordable
housing in town.
Plans for the 225 homes to be
built on the site could accom
modate that if the community
supports it, he said, resulting in
young professionals sharing the
subdivision with “baby boom
ers, retirees and seniors.”
Exactly how affordable the
homes would be was another
concern raised.
Gupta said that the price of
condos in the development could
- start at $200,000 or less. He added
that handicapped access would
be offered in the subdivision.
Gupta said that study after
Banks for the summer.
The boys’ mother, Rakh
sheed, works as a nurse at
Obici Hospital in Suffolk
and also coordinates their
education.
“We feel this is very im
portant,” Alton said. “We’ve
made great sacrifices, in
cluding a loss of income for
this.”
This is not the boys’ first
acting gig. They have ap
peared in productions at the
Rocky Hock Playhouse, the
Hampton Roads Shakespear
ian Festival and the James
town Anniversary Festival.
Razi, age 12, will be playing
two parts in the production.
He plays Thomas Archer, Jr.,
a colonist, and one of Queen
Elizabeth’s two pages.
He even has a speaking
part, which he happily re
peated. “And see the sassa
fras roots, they will make a
good tea for father’s fever,”
he said.
Razi said his biggest chal
lenge has been the quick
costume changes, but he
loves acting for the chance
study shows Americans as they
age are inclined to prefer a more
maintenance-free home.
Among the amenities that
could be provided are lawn and
garden maintenance as well as
the services of repairmen and
housekeeping that Would be
made available on a “fee-for-ser
vice” basis.
Continuing care services could
be made available on-site dur
ing Phase II of the project and
medical care would be available
across the road from the subdivi
sion at Chowan Hospital.
Architect Ralph Lasater of
Chapel Hill had prepared ren
derings showing the various
proposed designs that could be
built in the subdivision. Local
residents carefully studied the
condo/villa home, the garden
home and others.
Most important, Gupta said, is
that whatever configuration the
development takes, it “fits with
the character of Edenton.”
Razi and Riaz Lane pose in their costumes
for this summer's production.
it gives him to get out there and prove
himself.
Riaz, age 10, is considered a leading
cast member even though he has no
lines. An 8 X 10 photo of him is even
posted outside the theater. He plays
Wano, son of the chief.
Wano takes over the tribe at the end
of the play when his father is killed.
Riaz is particularly thrilled with the
props he gets to use, an Indian rattle
and a 16-inch knife. His biggest chal
lenge came this winter during rehears
als, standing in the cold in a loincloth.
The play will run in Manteo until
Aug. 20. Shows start at 8:30 p.m. Sun
day through Friday.
Chowan
County
crime hits
10-year low
600
800
400
300
800
100
0
CHOWAN CRIME TOTALS
1988 1999 8000 8001 8008 8003 8004 8008 8006 8007
— from Chowan County Sheriff's Office
By Vernon Fueston
Contributing Writer
Total reported crime in Chowan County
has been slowing for four years, according
to statistics provided by the state’s depart
ment of justice and local officials.
Chowan County is significantly safer than
the state average when it comes to the num
ber of reported offenses per capita. Even so,
there is plenty of crime in the county as fig
ures from local law enforcement show.
One possible explanation for the drop in .
overall crime in the county may be the long
term incarceration of a few high-volume
drug merchants, local law enforcement of
ficials said.
For a community where many don’t both
er to lock their doors when they leave the
house, the numbers from state and local
crime reports can provide a much-needed
reality check.
Last year, out of every 100,000 people •
across North Carolina, 4,660 became the vic
tims of crime, or at least reported crime.
But if you lived in Chowan County, you
were safer than the average North Caro
linian. For every statistical 100,000 people
in the county, 2,500 were the victims of a
crime.
By contrast, Perquimans County was safer
than Chowan while Pasquotank County was
considerably more dangerous to live in.
The overall number of crimes reported
for Chowan County has been falling for four
years. From a peak of 536 incidents in 2003,
crime has dropped by 173 incidents to its
current low.
That drop over the last four years may
have been due to a shift in the way the town
and county have been prosecuting some of
their larger-scale drug offenders.
Edenton Police Chief Gregory Bonner
and Sheriff Dwayne Goodwin said they be
gan charging higher-profile drug offenders
with federal crimes after state courts hand
ed down sentences they felt were too light.
Federal courts put away 13 individuals
back in 2003 and 2004, receiving sentences
that sent them away for years.
Those 13 offenders accounted for some of
the county’s worst drug merchants, Bonner
and Goodwin said.
Neither Bonner nor Goodwin wanted to
credit that single action for the reduction,
but they could not cite any other explana
tion for the trend in street crime.
Goodwin said those 13 criminals might
have made the difference. Looking at the
figures for burglary, larceny and motor ve
hicle theft that make up the bulk of county
crime, he saw a connection.
“These aren’t drug offenses, but that
group of people draws in the guns, alcohol
and other crime. That’s the element it (the
drug element) brings.”
COUNTY CRIME RATES 2007
State average 4,659
Chowan 2,476
Perquimans 1,800
Pasquotank 4,027
(Incidents per 100,000 citizens)
—• from state Department of Justice